Teresa and the Trainee
by Claidheamh Mohr
Summary: The organization has revived Teresa to perform undercover work for them, she has other ideas... The story premise is freely borrowed from "Return of the Faint Smile" by demon6666. OC warrior tossed into the mix.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own claymore.

Teresa and the trainee

Chapter 1

Oblivion... Flickering consciousness... Sensations returning... Sounds once more. Sound of breathing, air taken in, chest rising, exhaling ,chest falling, a pulse sending blood flowing through long dormant veins, muscles twitching again, thoughts. Lying on a hard surface, cool air on bare skin, dryness in the mouth... water! Want water... Eyes long closed, fluttering open to see a dimly lit stone ceiling. Teresa sat up and looked over at a young girl wearing warrior garb and sitting quietly, her silvery gray eyes were wide at the sight of Teresa sitting up and looking at her. Wordlessly, the girl offered her a cup of water, wordlessly, Teresa took the cup and drained it in one go, she handed it back to the girl and smiled. Teresa looked around the grim, stone walled room, it looked as if she was once again back within the clutches of the organization. Absently, Teresa felt her neck, the skin was smooth, there was no scar.

"Damn!" she muttered, "Even death is not a sure thing anymore."

"Excuse me?" the girl asked,

"Never mind, just talking to myself."

After a moment, the girl said quietly, "I was told to watch over you and to let Lord Dae know when you woke up."

Teresa gazed at her for a moment then said gently, "Wait a little while longer before you run to Lord Dae, I'm not ready to see him, not just yet. You understand?"

The look in the girl's eyes told Teresa that she too, knew about Lord Dae. The girl stood up and went over to a cabinet, reached inside and took out a set of clothing. She handed the clothing to Teresa and said,"I hope this helps, at least his eyes won't see your bare skin."

Teresa took the clothing and began dressing. Soon Teresa stood carefully and looked herself over, she still felt quite weak, but at least she was no longer naked.

Teresa looked the girl over, though just a young trainee without a rune on her ascot, she was already quite tall, taller even than Teresa herself, and Teresa was not a small woman.

"What is your name, child?" The girl flushed slightly and said softly, "I am Sheila, I came fro..."

Teresa cut her off with a wave of her hand and said brusquely,

"It doesn't matter where you came from Sheila. The organization owns you now, even getting your head chopped off won't release you!"

"It's a good thing that you told her that, Teresa of the faint smile." Came the voice from the doorway to the room. Lord Dae, a horribly disfigured old man dressed in black robes, stepped into the room.

He glared at Sheila and said harshly, "Trainee! Did I not tell you to come get me the moment Teresa awoke?"

Sheila visibly shuddered at Lord Dae's admonishment, she quickly cast her eyes down and clasped her hands in front of her as if waiting for either a rebuke or a cuff to her head.

Teresa spoke up quickly, "It's not her fault Lord Dae, she told me she had to tell you and I asked her to wait. Punish me, not her!"

Lord Dae's ruined face, twisted in a ghastly mockery of a smile and he said, "I'll let it go this time, but only because you asked me to, Teresa of the faint smile."

Lord Dae spent a few minutes simply looking Teresa over, he opened her uniform top and looked closely at her neck and at the incision in her abdomen.

Nodding his approval of her progress, he closed up her uniform top once more, gestured to Sheila and said, "This trainee here, has been assigned to be your helper during your recuperation and retraining. While your past skills are legendary, you will need to reacquaint yourself with your sword and rebuild your strength."

He paused a moment and remarked, "You're lucky, Teresa of the faint smile. The method we used took very nicely and your incision is healing well. We have improved the procedure somewhat since your first time, now the incisions are healing." Once again, his ghastly parody of a smile distorted his ruined face.

Teresa looked at Lord Dae for a long moment before she asked, "Is deflowering the girl, still a part of the 'procedure'?" Lord Dae twisted his face again and retorted, "Would you deny an old man, his one real pleasure?"

When Teresa did not reply, he shrugged and said haughtily, "I thought not!" and he left the room.

Teresa glanced over at Sheila, her eyes were welling up with the tears of suppressed emotions."I know just how you feel child, he has touched every girl that ever underwent the procedure. There's not a one of us who wouldn't mind seeing his head separated from his shoulders." Remarked Teresa.

Sheila smiled at Teresa through her tears and said quietly, "When I went through my last combat simulation, the one where a real yoma is hiding in the course? I imagined that I was actually killing him, and not that yoma."

Teresa clapped her hand on Sheila's shoulder and said cheerfully, "I think we've all imagined doing just that, only you've actually admitted to it!"

The next morning, Sheila and Teresa ate with the other advanced trainees. They each wore the blank trainee's ascot covering their throats. Upon becoming a ranked warrior, the blank ascot would be replaced by one with a rune embroidered into it, the symbol by which each was identified, the symbol that would mark them forever. Soon, the most advanced trainees would be joining the ranks and getting their first assignments as warriors. Teresa ate quietly, ignoring the looks she was getting from the other trainees.

Finally, one of them stood up and approached Teresa. "I'm Patrice, I don't believe we've met, and you are?" Teresa swallowed her bit of food and stood up.

Facing Patrice she replied,"Teresa... My name is Teresa and I've been asleep for a while. It is a pleasure to meet you Patrice." Patrice looked at her quizzically and asked, "Asleep? I'm not sure I understand. I've been here over six years now and I'm pretty sure I would've remembered you." Teresa just smiled at Patrice and replied, "I was one of Lord Dae's special projects apparently. I woke up yesterday evening and Sheila is here to keep me out of trouble." Patrice grinned and said cheerfully, "Beanpole here can't keep herself out of trouble. You're both goners for certain!" Patrice turned and rejoined her friends at their table, Teresa sat back down and resumed eating or rather, nibbling.

None of the warriors had any real appetites, birdlike was the best way to describe their eating habits. Silence fell across the room as one of the men in black entered and came directly to the table where Teresa and Sheila sat.

Teresa looked up at the man and said placidly, "Hello Rubel, I can't say it's a pleasure to see you so soon after waking. Is there something I can help you with?"

Rubel smiled at Teresa and in a silky voice said, "Ah! But it is a great pleasure to see you again, Teresa of the faint smile."

A low murmur drifted across the room at the mention of Teresa's full name. "I've missed our repartee, your flirtation with insolence was always so... Stimulating!"

Teresa's doll like face was unmoved at Rubel's remarks, he smiled again and said, "Well, I'll let you get back to your meal... Soon, we'll have much to talk about."

The room remained hushed until Rubel had left, then the sounds of conversation came back in a rush."Teresa of the faint smile? Here? I thought she was dead?" being the general theme of the conversations around them.

A burly girl rose from her table, approached them and stood with her muscular arms folded across her chest, she gazed at Teresa for a few moments, then she declared,

"You don't look too impressive to me, why did they bring you back? We have a number one already."

Teresa only shrugged and replied pleasantly, "You'll have to ask Lord Dae, I was perfectly fine with being dead. No insolent youngsters needing a lesson in manners to bother me."

The burly girl's face reddened and she drew back her hand as if to slap Teresa, Teresa's eyes never flickered, she gazed at the girl with steely eyed calm, awaiting the blow without fear. The girl hesitated, then went back to her table and sat down noisily.

Sheila asked her quietly, "How did you know she wasn't actually going to hit you?"

Teresa smiled at her young guardian and replied, "She didn't have the resolve in her eyes, she hasn't faced real fear yet."

Sheila looked a bit confused at that remark until Teresa said, "It's one thing to push around younger, weaker and scared young girls. It's quite another thing to face a powerful opponent in a real battle. I've faced real fear, I faced it every time I drew blade against a yoma or an awakened being. Battles, no matter how brief can go wrong, even a weak yoma can get lucky."

Sheila looked thoughtful, then said reflectively, "I was scared when I fought a yoma during that last training exercise, but once I swung my blade for real the first time? The fear just vanished, I concentrated on the fight and forgot how scared I had been. Was it that way for you?"

Teresa grinned at her and said cheerfully, "You're catchin' on kiddo, I'll make a warrior out of you yet!"


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Claymore

Chapter 2

The days and weeks passed rapidly, Teresa gained back her strength and at the same time, she sparred with Sheila to build up her skills and strength as well. Little news came in from the outside, except for what the organization wanted them to hear. Warriors returning from missions were kept away from the pool of trainees, to prevent rumors from spreading amongst the young and impressionable trainees. Occasionally, one would be called up from the ranks, given a number and sent out to do battle in her own district instead of sparring with her fellow trainees. Teresa was now sparring with the older, more experienced warriors. Even so, they were not a challenge for her. She was just so vastly beyond them in skills, experience and strength, that they could only endure while she wove steely nets around them and occasionally pinked them with her blade, as a reminder of who really was the best with a heavy blade. While idle chatter was discouraged, Teresa still picked up on things like none of the warriors she had known, still lived. None of the next generation had survived either, life for the warriors was still nasty, brutish and short.

One day, several months after Teresa's reawakening, Rubel came to visit. Sheila and Teresa were

sitting outside the barracks building they lived in, all around them lay their personal armor. Several pieces had already been scrubbed with wet sand and were set aside to dry. Sheila was diligently scrubbing away at a stubborn bit of rust on a shoulder guard, while Teresa leaned back against the stone wall and stared off into space. The soft crunching of sand beneath hard soled shoes warned them of the approaching man in black, it was Rubel.

"Ah, there you are!" began he, "I thought I'd find you here, Teresa of the faint smile."

Teresa looked over at him and said curtly, "Cut the crap Rubel! What is it that you want me to do? Surely, Lord Dae didn't revive me just to have me clean up after him and scare the kids!"

Rubel smiled at her and removed his hat to reveal his egg smooth dome of a head, then he hunkered down and squatted on his haunches.

He began,"I want to talk to you about your mission, Teresa." He glanced over at Sheila and she started to move away, "No, stay! This also concerns you." he said softly, a tone of conspiracy in his voice.

Sheila remained where she was, still scrubbing, Rubel straightened up again and replaced his black hat. Without looking at them, he spoke as if he was talking to himself.

"Seven years ago, twenty four warriors were sent north to stop an army of awakened beings that Isley of the North had gathered there. It was a suicide mission, none were expected to survive. The mission succeeded on two counts. One, the army of awakened beings was stopped and two, the more troublesome warriors, the ones specially chosen, were eliminated. Or so we had thought, all of these years."

Rubel glanced around and then said quietly, "Recently, things have been happening. Things we cannot explain, things like warriors being rescued from one of Riful of the West's little traps and a report of only seventeen swords being placed as grave markers for the fallen in the north. Awakened beings wouldn't have buried them, who did? And why only seventeen blades and not twenty five?"

Stretching languidly, Teresa stifled a huge yawn and covered her mouth with her hand. From behind her hand, she said softly, "Just what does all this little history lesson have to do with me? I've already heard much of what you speak of from warriors I've sparred with."

Rubel chuckled softly and said, "You always were the smart one, Teresa. This, is why all of this pertains to you. That little girl Clare, whom you traveled with? When you were defeated by Priscilla, Clare sought me out and demanded that your flesh, and none others, be planted in her body. How could I refuse such a request?"

Teresa sighed deeply and muttered, "That little idiot! I wanted her to live out her life as a normal human, not as a half-breed freak!" She looked up at Rubel and asked, "Are you going to tell me next that Clare was one of the twenty four? Knowing how stubborn she was, I wouldn't be surprised."

Rubel shrugged and said with a smirk, "You took the words right out of my mouth! Yes, she was one of the twenty four." Teresa stared off into the distance for a few moments and then glanced up at Rubel, "Do you think that some of the twenty four might have survived and are in hiding? Has the organization been searching for them?" Rubel cleared his throat and muttered, "We'll continue this at another time, though in answer, I can say yes and no, to your last question."

Rubel nodded at Lord Dae as he approached, Dae said, "Rubel! Come with me, we have to choose candidates for ranking." he glanced only briefly at Teresa and Sheila as they sat on the ground and scrubbed at their armor, resuming his pace as Rubel joined him.

That night, Teresa sat outside staring up into the starry heavens. She found herself wondering what sort of warrior Clare would have made, had she survived the battle of the north. Of one thing she was certain, Clare wouldn't have died easily, no, not her Clare!

Teresa smiled to herself, then she chuckled softly, Clare would have spat in Isley's eye as he was swallowing her, that's what her Clare would have done! The soft crunch of sand beneath a hard soled shoe interrupted her reverie.

Rubel was back. "More bad news. Eh, Rubel?" She said to the shadow alongside of her.

Rubel replied, "No, more like a proposal!"

Teresa asked with a hint of surprise in her voice, "Proposal? What can you offer me that I would be seriously interested in?"

"Now, now, Teresa. You wound me. Hear me out at least." Replied Rubel with a slight chuckle.

"I'm listening." said Teresa.

Leaning closer, Rubel said in a near whisper, "I have reason, very good reason, to believe that several warriors did survive the northern campaign and have been in hiding ever since. Clare just might be one of them."

Teresa's heart nearly skipped a couple of beats at the news of Clare's possible survival, she fought to keep her emotions out of her voice as she asked the next question, "And just what proof, do you have of this?"

Rubel's soft voice answered, "A more recent number forty seven returned from an awakened being hunting trip in the north. I spoke to her before the rest of the organization heads saw her. She told me of her counting the upright swords stuck into the frozen ground and only counting seventeen blades. She had also noted the runes on the blades and showed me the runes she saw, Clare's rune was not among them."

Teresa found herself exhaling the breath she had been unconsciously holding while Rubel spoke.

Teresa asked, "So how did the organization heads react to her report?"

Rubel chuckled softly again and replied, "They listened to her until she spoke of the seventeen swords instead of the twenty five swords expected, then they dismissed her report as worthless. She was reassigned to be an assistant to the number four of the time, Miata. A very powerful but unstable young warrior. They were sent to reconnoiter Rabona, the Holy City to try and find a missing warrior, Galatea, the number three at the time."

"And did they succeed? Rabona was always off limits to us 'Unnatural's'. Asked Teresa. "It seems, they've vanished too." replied Rubel.

"Okay, now I'm interested!" remarked Teresa, Rubel chuckled softly and replied. "I thought you'd see things my way once I laid out all of my cards."

Teresa snorted derisively and retorted, "You never, ever, lay out ALL of your cards, there's always one or two hidden up your sleeve. What are you up to? Keeping things from the organization will get you in big trouble."

Rubel stood quietly for almost a whole minute, then he said the one thing Teresa never thought she'd hear him say.

"I need you to escape and I want you to kill Dae during your escape, you can take Sheila with you. She's due to become the next number forty seven anyway, you can break out and Sheila can "pursue" you. Somehow, you two can vanish just like Galatea, Miata and Clarice did. Maybe, you can find the ghosts of the twenty four warriors and put them to rest at last."

Silence reigned supreme as Teresa digested what Rubel had just finished saying. His proposal was treason, warriors had been executed for less. Rubel had just proposed an assassination covered up by an escape attempt.

Dae, she mused, certainly deserved punishment for the countless young girls he had molested before he sliced them open and implanted yoma flesh throughout their growing bodies. The pain of their surgery and transformation would supposedly drive the memory and pain of their molestation into the limbo of the subconscious. Still, they remembered his filthy touch and longed to see him dead.

Teresa realized with a start that Rubel had slipped away, his last question remained unanswered.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Claymore

Chapter 3

The freakish rains had turned the practice field into a nightmare for the trainees, as they struggled to keep their feet while swinging the heavy sword that was their hallmark. Sheila had risen to the top of her group through sheer determination and the long, grueling practice sessions with Teresa. While Teresa still easily disarmed her and could pink her at will, Sheila's speed and strength had markedly improved and she could now hold off Teresa far longer than before. Now, Sheila was circling slowly, her eyes on her opponent, Patrice.

The young warrior was her only real challenge amongst the trainees and today's match was to determine which of them would advance to full warrior status and a ranking number. The steady rain and the muddy field added the factor of uncertain footing so an accurate swing in dry weather could end up going awry in the wet. The only rules to this match were: "No fatalities and no dismemberment's".

Both girls were bleeding from several minor wounds and each was looking for the small opening, the error that would decide the outcome. With a cry, Patrice lashed out with her blade and Sheila narrowly blocked the cut while at the same time, swinging her left fist in an arc that ended on Patrice's exposed cheek, while Patrice's blade slithered along Sheila's blade and glanced off of her shoulder guard in a shower of sparks.

Soundlessly, Patrice stumbled and fell over stunned by Sheila's left fist. Though Patrice was only briefly stunned, it was long enough to decide the contest. Patrice smiled through her tears as Sheila extended her left hand and hauled Patrice back up onto her feet. Patrice smiled at Sheila and said quietly,

"Congratulations! Number forty seven, you get to leave now!"

Sheila grinned back and said, "Congratulations Patrice, you still get to sleep with a roof over your head tomorrow."

The two embraced fondly, they had been friends since implantation and had helped each other through the worst of the transformation.

Patrice left the muddy field and the rain to Sheila. It would be her turn again all too soon, a ranking slot would soon be open again, young warriors did not live long.

Sheila faced the pavilion where the organization's leaders sat out of the rain. She was streaked with mud and stained with blood where she wasn't soaked to the skin, inured to the discomfort, she stood and waited, outwardly calm. The sounds of rain falling around her and splatting into the mud, her armor tinkling faintly, drumming on the canvas of the pavilion and faintly, the pulsing of blood through her veins.

Rubel stood and beckoned to her first, then he beckoned to Teresa who had stood in the rain along with the other warriors and trainees. Sheila moved up to the pavilion and stood where Rubel indicated, moments later, Teresa had joined her. Rubel smiled at both of them and in his best outside voice said,

"Congratulations to you both! Sheila, you are now number forty seven, a ranking that I expect, you'll be moving up from, soon!"

He turned to a wooden rack with two massive claymores in it. One was new and unused, the other, had seen much use.

Taking the new sword and a wrapped parcel from the rack, Rubel faced Sheila and opening the parcel, placed the new ascot in Sheila's hands.

He waited while Sheila switched the old ascot for her new one with the silver rune embroidered in it, her symbol for the rest of her life.

Rubel then took up the great, gleaming sword engraved with the matching rune and placed it in her outstretched hands.

Gripping the hand grip as if for the first time, Sheila's eyes glistened with wetness as she slipped the great sword into the holder on her back. She was finally, a warrior in the ranks!

Rubel turned to Teresa, he smiled at her and said,

"It gives me great pleasure to return to you, your sword. I trust you will use it to defend both the organization and humanity from all enemies, internal and external."

Teresa smiled back and said nothing. Rubel gave her a small wrapped parcel, it was a new ascot with her silver rune embroidered in it.

Next, he returned her great sword to her. Teresa's hand curled around the smooth grip and her faint smile returned, she caressed the huge blade with her finger tips and said very softly,

"Hello again,old friend, did you miss me?"

It seemed to everyone there that somehow, Teresa grew taller and more well muscled in that moment, her hair seemed fuller and her face even more beautiful.

The greatest, strongest, warrior of all time was back!

The moment was fleeting and was shattered by Rubel's silky voice,

"We don't have a ranking for you, Teresa of the faint smile. Your power and skills are such that we have decided that you will be given the most critical assignments, one's requiring both discretion and great power."

Teresa smiled at him and said quietly,

"In other words, your dirty work." Rubel smirked slightly and replied, "You could say that."

Teresa swung her great sword up and clipped it in its holder on her back, the brief ceremony was now over.

Teresa glanced over at Sheila and nodded slightly, as one, the two saluted the seated heads of the organization, executed as smart an about-face as could be mustered under the weather conditions and strode briskly from the field of honor.

With a dismissive wave of his hand, Lord Rimuto excused the remaining water logged trainees and ranked warriors from the field. A hearty cheer rose from the rain soaked ranks and they wasted little time getting under a roof and into dry clothing.

Sheila sat on her bench, her new ascot in hand, her eyes taking in the angular shape of the rune that was now hers. Beside her lay the great sword that would be her companion for the remainder of her life, friends would come and friends would go, but the sword would be there for her through it all, until her last breath.

Then it would serve to mark the grave where she had fallen.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice saying,

"Excuse me please? Lord Dae sent me to get you."

It came from a young trainee, only recently transformed, judging from the length of flaxen hair at her roots while the rest was still brown.

Sheila glanced over at Teresa who merely shrugged. Placing her sword in its holder and shuddering inwardly at the memories of Lord Dae. Sheila followed the slight girl into the depths of Lord Dae's theater of horrors, this hellish place Lord Dae called his flesh atelier. Arriving at their destination, the nameless girl all but squeaked in terror as Lord Dae dismissed her, she fled as if on winged feet, the faint slapping of her bare feet on stone receding rapidly.

Sheila stood silently, her eyes taking in the spectacle. Three young girls lay shivering in fear, their eyes staring at her in terror. Lord Dae stood there with his ghastly face twisted in his parody of a smile and he said,

"Number forty seven! How good of you to come." he gestured to the frightened girls, "I asked you here for a special purpose."

His face returned to its usual nightmarish aspect, "You are going to help me with deflowering these girls."

Sheila glared at him and he snapped at her, "I expect your complete cooperation or tomorrow, we will be selecting a new number forty seven!"

From deep inside Sheila's psyche came her answer, the answer from years of suppressed outrage and anger at the helplessness she had felt when Lord Dae had lifted his black robes and she felt the agony and shame of being ravished, her silvery gray eyes flashed to golden and her bellow was heard even in the room where she had stayed with Teresa.

"NO... I, WILL, NOT... OBEY!"

Lord Dae rocked back on his heels in surprise, no underling, warrior or trainee had ever dared to raise their voice at him like this.

Sheila spoke again through clenched teeth, "You horrible, sick, monster! You have done this to hundreds, no, thousands of girls. NO MORE! This... Ends... Now!"

Sheila drew her sword, Lord Dae's eyes bulged at the sight of her deadly blade and the grim intent in her blazing golden eyes.

He leapt to a bell rope to signal for help. In a flash, Sheila had it in her hand first, she grinned at him and growled,

"Calling for help now, are we? Here, allow me!" Sheila gave the rope several hard jerks and it snapped off in her hand.

In a mocking voice, Sheila cried, "Oh! I broke your rope, I just don't know my own strength anymore. Not since you mutilated me!"

The sounds of shouting, clashing swords and booted feet came echoing down the hallway outside, Lord Dae straightened up from his cowering and he exulted,

"Hear that! You great fool! Your doom is coming." he looked at the terrified girls and said gleefully. "Watch this and learn, no one defies me and lives!"

Sheila suddenly lunged forward, grabbed his groin area with her left hand and squeezed until her knuckles cracked, lifting him off the floor in her effort.

Lord Dae screamed so hard his voice cracked and he flailed helplessly in her iron grip.

Sheila dropped Lord Dae and said hoarsely, "You'll never touch a girl again." then she sliced his head from his body, it toppled from his shoulders and rolled across the stone floor, eyes wide open in surprise.

His lifeless corpse slumped over and stained the floor with his red blood, forming a widening pool as his foul heart ceased its beating.

Sheila turned to leave and stopped short at the sight of Teresa now fully dressed and armed, standing in the doorway with a smile on her face.

She said with a grin, "I saw what you did. It was classic! Now hurry! We've only got a little while before people start waking up and coming after us."

Teresa glanced once more at the scene of Lord Dae's execution and chuckled, then she hustled herself and Sheila past all of the sprawled, unconscious warriors, out of the organization complex and into the driving rain.

With the rain drops stinging their faces as they ran, Sheila cried,

"What happened back there? Who knocked them all out like that?"

Teresa grinned at her and yelled back, "I should be asking you the same thing? What made you emasculate Dae like you did? Wouldn't just chopping him have been just as good?"

Sheila just gave Teresa a look of disbelief and between gasps she cried out, "I wanted him to know real agony just once before he died, I'm not talking about the pain from when his face got mutilated. I just wanted to give back the agony I felt when he forced himself into me." choking back her tears, Sheila declared, "I was only ten when I was assaulted by him, I'm fourteen now and it still hurts me what he did."

Teresa suddenly skidded to a stop and the two paused to catch their breaths.

Teresa blurted out,"How old, did you say you were?" Sheila looked at Teresa and replied, "I'm fourteen, why? Is that a problem?"

Teresa smiled at her and said hastily, "No, it's not a problem. I was just surprised at your youth that's all. I didn't realize the organization was robbing cradles now. Your pretty tall and I figured you to be in your late teens, I guess you're going to be a really tall girl when you're done growing." Teresa looked up at the clouds overhead and said, "Better get going, those warriors I knocked out are probably out looking for us by now!" Sheila nodded and the two resumed their running and enduring the stinging rain drops, the cold and being soaked to the skin.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Claymore.

Chapter 4

Digging deep into their reserves of strength, the two fugitives fled. For weeks, then months, they zigzagged, they backtracked, they swam across lakes and ate what they could find or catch. Sheila quickly adapted to the rigors of the wild, bathing in the open, sleeping on the ground, eating raw foods be it fish, fowl or furred. Occasionally a yoma would be encountered in a town and Teresa would stand back and let Sheila do the fighting, only stepping in if it started to go badly for Sheila. Before long, Sheila had been in numerous fights and had acquired new skills and confidence from the experiences.

Teresa stepped in when they met the first awakened being Sheila had ever seen. She had lived in a ruined town and was dressed in tatters. Upon recognition by the two, she quickly transformed into a monstrous, scorpion like creature with three long tails tipped with deadly stingers, a single drop of the venom left an angry weal on Sheila's right arm when she dodged its first strike and the tip had barely scratched her.

Sheila saw Teresa in her fighting form for the first time, she saw how Teresa easily dominated the fight, almost toying with the awakened being, like a cat with a mouse.

Too late in the battle, the awakened being finally realized her fate was sealed and she cried out desperately, "Who are you... What number are you?"

Teresa calmly replied, "I am Teresa, a former number one." The being's eyes managed to convey the shock of recognition her chitinous face could not.

"You can't be her!" the being cried, "Teresa is dead!"

Teresa grinned and quipped, "I was, but I got over it!"

Then she leapt over the awakened being's now limbless body, her glittering sword flashed once and the being's insectoid head dropped and rolled away from its body, coming to a stop facing Sheila. As its eyes faded to black, Sheila thought she heard a whispered. "Thank you! Now I can sleep."

The battle had wreaked havoc on their travel stained uniforms, Teresa smiled at Sheila and remarked, "Well... You were getting too big for that uniform anyway!"

At the next fair sized town they entered, they purchased new clothing and disposed of their uniform remnants, the boots and armor were traded to a nearby blacksmith in exchange for a couple of good belt knives and wrist guards. Practically the last of their money went for boots from the town's cobbler.

Needing money, they hired themselves out as escorts for a caravan traveling eastward through the bandit ridden desert areas, teaching themselves to ride horseback in the process.

Teresa taught Sheila how to suppress her youki aura to better hide in plain sight and they sparred daily to sharpen her skills and for the exercise.

Weeks later, they reached the coast and were paid off by the caravan. Teresa looked up at Sheila now and she grinned,

"Just how tall are you going to get?"

Sheila could only shrug helplessly and reply, "My people were all tall, it comes from living near the north lands. My dad said it was so we could see over the snow drifts."

Sheila fell silent at the memories of her lost homeland. It had been overrun by awakened beings. Teresa looked out to sea and said quietly,

"I came from the southern islands, where the olives grow. The women there have curves, that's where my boobs came from! My parents died in a plague and my relatives sold me to the organization. I've no desire to go back, not after that betrayal."

A scream of horror and the wave of youki disturbed their musings; it was a yoma attack right there in the seaside town they'd stopped in. Teresa muttered, "Now we're going to have to reveal ourselves...Damnit!"

Sheila had already drawn her great sword and was charging off to the scene of the attack. In a burst of speed, Teresa caught up to her and they quickly arrived at the scene. The yoma was fully transformed, any semblance of humanity was long gone, only the slavering monster remained.

He held onto his hostage, a screaming woman, it was she they'd heard.

As before, Teresa hung back to let Sheila have the experience, the yoma gaped at the sight of them with their silvery gray eyes, flaxen hair and whopping great swords.

He screamed hoarsely at them,"Claymores!? What are you bitches doing here?"

Teresa grinned at him and replied, "Bitches!? Now is that any way to talk to ladies? We're going to have to punish you for your rudeness!"

Sheila glanced over at Teresa, Teresa smiled at her and nodded, then she hung her sword across her back and folded her well muscled arms across her lush bosom.

Sheila nodded and turned to face the yoma, she stepped forward and the yoma placed his clawed hand across the terrified woman's throat, he growled, "Don't be stupid! You can't get to me in time to stop me from ripping out her throat."

Sheila smiled at him and said pleasantly, "You're right! I wouldn't be able to stop you. However, you are guaranteeing that I will kill you, regardless of whether the woman lives or not."

Sheila jabbed her sword into the ground, reached into one of her pouches and held up a large nut, she smiled and asked,

"Have you ever seen one of these? They come from the south and are very hard to crack!"

The yoma glared and shouted, "WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING!?"

Sheila grinned at him and said, "Only this!"

She suddenly snapped her wrist and there was a loud pop! and the yoma's eyes rolled back in his head as he slumped to the ground with a nut sized dent in his forehead. The woman scrambled away and Sheila stepped forward to quickly behead the stunned yoma.

While Sheila was wiping off her sword, Teresa handed her the now cracked nut and said with a grin,

"I will give you points for originality! I sure wouldn't have thought of that trick."

Sheila just shrugged and replied, "I didn't want my fourteenth yoma kill as a freelancer to be marred by an innocent life being lost."

Teresa chuckled and said, "Considering what Dae was like? I'd say this is your fifteenth yoma kill." Sheila grinned back and replied, "Okay! I'll call this my fifteenth kill."

The woman was now slumped over the body of the yoma sobbing out a name. "Alphonse!" she cried, "Alphonse...What happened to you? We were husband and wife! You changed into this...This monster!"

Several townsfolk were standing around jabbering excitedly until one of them approached the two warriors. "What happened here?" He asked, "Alphonse was born here, how did he become this...?" the man ended helplessly, gesturing at the hideous corpse.

Teresa sighed and said loudly enough for all to hear, "Alphonse had been taken over by the yoma, he was no longer your Alphonse. He was a monster in disguise living amongst you, you might have noticed people suddenly vanishing for no reason, or more likely he preyed on new arrivals that no one knew."

She turned to the sobbing woman and said gently, "I am sorry ma'am. There was no other way to rescue you, Alphonse is long gone and his killer is now dead."

The man who had approached them asked, "You're claymores aren't you? Isn't there some fee we have to pay you now?"

Teresa smiled and replied, "Yes we are, and yes the organization does charge a fee. However, we've left the organization and there is no fee." "Left the organization?" asked the man.

Sheila grinned at him and quipped, "We had some differences of opinion."

He grinned at them and said, "So... We never saw you two, is that it?" The ex-warriors grinned in reply.

He grinned back and said cheerfully, "Right! Gotcha... Will you take a 'donation'?"

The two shrugged in unison and the man handed Teresa a leather pouch that clinked from the coins within it. She opened it up and took out a small handful of the coins, then she stepped over to the distraught widow and laid the pouch in her lap, touching her lightly on her head in sympathy, she said softly, "You will be needing this more than we will." The woman looked up at Teresa and through her sobs, stammered out her thanks.

The two looked at each other and said in unison, "Where to now?" Then they grinned at each other and Teresa remarked,

"If we go back the way we came, we'll pass near the organization headquarters. I doubt they've forgiven us for killing their pet monster maker."

Sheila declared, "I was the one who killed him, not you, Teresa."

Teresa smiled at her and replied matter of factly, "It won't matter to the organization, I watched the whole thing and made no effort to stop you. To them, I might as well have been the killer myself, guilty by association."

Teresa looked thoughtful and then said quietly, "Rubel told me that some warriors may be hiding in the holy city of Rabona. Perhaps, we should go there and investigate?"

Sheila pointed out, "Rabona is back the way we came and the most direct way goes right past the organization headquarters. How do you propose to get there and avoid our friends who want our heads, preferably on a stick?"

Teresa grinned at her and pointed at something behind her, Sheila turned and saw a cargo ship loading up for a sea voyage.

Teresa asked, "How are you with boats, ever been sea sick?" Sheila could only shake her head in a "no"

"Well, let's ask the captain if he has room for a couple of paying passengers." declared Teresa and she strode purposefully towards the gently bobbing ship at the dock. The ship, it turned out was carrying a cargo of amphorae filled with olive oil and pickled olives from the southern islands. It had stopped in Sutafu to pick up a hundredweight of incense made from the resin of shrubs that grew on the slopes of the eastern hills, south of the organization.

This pungent incense was destined for the great temple of the God of Rabona and was quite valuable. At first, the captain was against them sailing with them, "I'm sorry ladies, my men are real superstitious about women on board ship, even if you do carry swords." he said.

Teresa pointed out to him, "Captain, if pirates catch you with this load of valuable items, and considering how heavily loaded this ship is? It wouldn't be real hard for some hungry pirates with a fast sloop. They could just cut your throats and feed you to the sharks while pocketing the money they got for your cargo."

The old sea dog of a captain scowled at Teresa's remarks and retorted,

"It'll cost 'em dear, missy. We have cutlasses for each of us and we'll fight if we have to."

Sheila said quietly, "If we sail with you, your men won't have to fight, not with us on board. Either one of us is worth every man in your crew in a fight, and we can help out or simply pay our way and watch out for pirates. I hear they're a problem in these waters."

The captain glanced over at his first mate, the man simply shrugged and said, "I don't have any problems with a couple o'claymores on board ship, pirates have been a nuisance of late, they could prove useful in a fight."

The captain faced them and said, "Well, you heard the man. Welcome aboard!" Teresa shook his extended hand and placed some coins in his open hand, he glanced at the coins, grinned and said cheerfully, "We sail with the evenin' tide, you can stow your gear below."


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Claymore.

Chapter 5

Two days later, the sturdy ship was approaching an island harbor. At each side of the entrance were stout stone towers with a strange device mounted atop each one. To the warriors, it resembled a large spear laid on a long wooden rack with a large horizontal curved bow sweeping across it. Sheila glanced at Teresa for an answer and she glanced back and shrugged.

The first mate, Rodolfo remarked, "Harbor defenses, that giant crossbow can shoot a spear half a mile and sink a ship with it."

Teresa glanced at him and said, "So, that's what it is. I've never seen one before."

Rodolfo shrugged and remarked, "The organization keeps a lot of things out of the hands of folk. These outlying islands are left alone by the organization, so they have many things you haven't heard of."

Just beyond the range of the huge weapon, the ship dropped anchor and waited. Soon a small skiff came out to the ship and a man came on board. He shook hands with the captain, the ship raised anchor and the sails were unfurled again, the breeze filled them and the stout ship under the direction of the stranger, sailed into the fortified harbor and was soon docked.

The warriors attracted attention from their appearance alone, the pale skin, flaxen hair and silvery gray eyes set them apart and Sheila's height made her stand out. The islanders were uniformly shorter than her, causing Teresa to say teasingly, "I hope this growth spurt of yours stops soon, this is getting ridiculous!"

Sheila could only shrug and smile back.

A couple of young men with smaller versions of the giant bow, were perched on the breakwater and using them to shoot fish, they were taking aim and loosing what resembled little barbed spears that had a cord attached to them, so they could be retrieved. Intrigued by what they were doing, the warriors approached them, one of the young men paused in his shooting as they approached, the warriors were something new to him.

Sheila smiled at him and asked, "What is that you have there?"

The young man looked at her blankly for a moment and held up one of the silvery fish he had already shot, replying, "Fish?"

Teresa laughed and said to him, "My friend wants to know what that thing, that you're shooting the fish with, is called."

He grinned at her and said, "A bow and arrows, these are fishing arrows, they have barbed tips and a cord attached to them to retrieve the arrow and fish. For hunting, I have other tips, some for fowl and some for larger game."

He handed the bow to Teresa for examination while Sheila admired several of the arrows.

Sheila asked him,"How far can this shoot?"

The young man thought a moment and replied, "About a hundred paces with accuracy, if you're trying to scare off pirates, up to about three hundred paces."

His companion had joined them and he scoffed, "Maybe with your old bow, you can reach three hundred. Mine can reach three-fifty easy!"

"Your dad just made yours for your manhood ceremony, mine's next year!" retorted the first young man, the second young man just grinned and introduced himself.

"My name is Marko, my rude young friend here is Tomas, and you are?"

Teresa smiled and replied, "I am Teresa and this is Sheila, we came from the mainland on board the Wastrel. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." They gathered up the stringer of fish and headed to Marko's house, Marko's father was the bowyer for the island and Marko was his apprentice, Tomas' father was the fletcher and like Marko, Tomas was his apprentice.

Marko introduced the two warriors to his father Carlo. "Dad? I'd like you to meet Teresa and Sheila, they came from the mainland."

Carlo looked them over with a critical eye until he asked, "Did the organization send you here?" Teresa smiled at him and replied cheerfully, "No, we came here on our own, we're actually on our way to Rabona and we are sailing on board the Wastrel."

Marko and Tomas had mystified looks on their tanned faces, then Tomas asked, "The organization? What is that?"

Carlo grinned at his son's best friend and replied, "Boys, you are looking at two 'Silver Eyed Slayers' the organization is on the mainland and they send out these claymores to kill yomas, monsters that feed on humans."

Seeing the blank looks on the two boy's faces, Carlo just grinned at the warrior pair and said apologetically,

"I'm sorry, when my people first came up here from down south to escape the plague and to keep the organization from grabbing any more orphan girls. We tried to put it in the past where it belongs, seeing you two brought up a lot of old memories, not for me so much, but my parents would remember your eyes."

Teresa looked at him thoughtfully and finally asked, "What island did your people come from?" Carlo thought for a moment and replied, "Isla D'Olivos... I think. My mother would know if she could remember, her mind is going I'm afraid."

Teresa stared at Carlo for a moment then she said quietly, "I came from Isla D'Olivos, the organization bought me from my relatives after my parents had died from the plague."

She frowned a bit then added, "At least that's what I think happened, the organization lies so much that the story itself, could be a lie."

Carlo gazed at Teresa for a long moment, then he said, "You somewhat resemble my mother except for your skin and hair color, would you like to see her? Maybe you'll jog her memory a bit."

Teresa glanced over at Sheila who merely shrugged and said helpfully, "It couldn't hurt. Maybe it will clear up some confusion about your past."

Shrugging, Teresa smiled at Carlo and said, "Lead me to her."

Carlo led her inside the house and brought her to an old woman sitting in a rocking chair. Her hands deftly twirling crocheting needles steadily, a bundle of knitting in her lap.

He stood beside her rocking chair and said gently, "Mother? I've found someone you might remember. She came from Isla D'Olivos, just like you did."

The needles paused in their incessant movement and the old woman looked up at her son.

"What was that you said? Isla D'Olivos?" She blinked at him several times and asked again, "What about Isla D'Olivos? Who came from there?"

She looked at Teresa as if seeing her for the first time, then she squinted at her for a long moment. Her dark eyes opened wide then she said querously, "Teresa? You can't be Teresa... The organization took her from us long ago, she was so beautiful, but they took her by force."

She blinked and smiled at Teresa, whose silvery gray eyes were brimming with unshed tears, and said, "You look a lot like my dear cousin Teresa, except she had the glossiest, blackest hair and could out swim any boy, that girl was my idol. Her parents got sick and died from the plague so we took her in, then the organization came and took her. They told her that we had sold her, but that was a filthy lie!"

The old woman paused and blinked a few times, looked at her knitting and resumed her work. Teresa and her story already forgotten. Teresa swept from the house, her eyes streaming with tears. She wanted to cry more than she had ever wanted to cry before. Carlo wordlessly handed her a cloth and squeezed her shoulder before he stepped away to give her space.

Departing with the tide, the Wastrel sailed from the fortified harbor, its sails bellied from the breeze taking them back out to sea. Teresa and Sheila stood at the port side rail and gazed at the small crowd that waved good bye to them. Sheila said quietly, "I'm still amazed, finding your family like we did, I guess we were meant to come here."

Teresa smiled at her younger companion and said, "I know now what my life's mission will be, it will be to find these rumored fugitive warriors and work with them to bring down the organization. I cannot allow any more young girls to become brutalized like we did. Are you with me?"

Sheila grinned back at her and replied, "Of course! I can't believe you would've asked me that question. Besides, the organization would love to punish me for ridding the world of their pet monster maker."

Teresa laughed and commented, "I wish you could have seen his face when you crushed his jewels like you did, his good side was as red as his bad side and both of his eyes were popped out of their sockets."

Sheila glanced over at the long bundles they had been given by Carlo and remarked, "I guess the voyage will give us some time to practice our shooting."

Teresa grinned, her new found cousin Carlo had given them two of his heaviest bows, six extra bowstrings and two quivers filled with heavy duty arrows for piercing an awakened being's thick hide.

Remembering the brief lesson in archery that Carlo had given them, they would perch on the ship's rail and shoot the fish riding in the ship's wake with the fishing arrows and retrieval cord. The crew enjoyed the fresh fish and they got plenty of practice in acquiring targets. A pirate sloop was driven off when Teresa shot their captain at two hundred paces, the pirate crew hastily withdrew after he slumped to the deck with a feathered shaft quivering in his chest.

Gradually, the waters they sailed on became brownish.

The captain smiled at them and said, "We're almost there, soon we'll be entering the river, what you're seeing is river water filled with silt. This is the worst part, the delta is lousy with river folk who don't mind slitting a throat, a few canoes filled with pirates can be a very bad thing. This old tub is made for heavy loads not speed, so we're only going until we hit the first real town. From there, the incense and oil is going by wagon and we will be parting ways."

The captain's words became truth all too soon, from out of a side channel several swift canoes darted towards the wallowing cargo ship, grappling hooks at the ready.

Several crew members grabbed up long poles to fend off the would be robbers, while others handed out cutlasses.

Teresa and Sheila calmly strung their bows, set an arrow into place and waited for a sure shot. At one hundred paces range, Sheila drew back her bow and loosed her first arrow, an instant later the leader in the first canoe grunted in pain and fell backwards, dead.

A feathered shaft protruding from his chest and the barbed tip protruding from his back, the remaining occupants in the canoe panicked as shaft after shaft, zzzipped into their shrinking flesh, each shot snuffing out a life.

Teresa had picked a different canoe and was dealing them the same bitter hand, shot after shot striking flesh with deadly effect. The remaining canoes seeing the fate handed out to their leaders, turned tail and paddled frantically back to the safety of the reeds lining the riverside. Teresa borrowed one of the throwing spears, tied a thin rope to it and hurled it at the canoe she had shot up, the spear stuck fast in the canoe and she hauled it up alongside the ship.

One of the sailors jumped into the corpse laden canoe and wrenched the spear free, handing it up to Teresa so she could spear and haul in the other canoe.

While she did just that, Sheila stepped into the canoe and carefully withdrew the bloodied arrows from the corpses. When the second canoe bumped against the ship, she stepped into it and repeated her actions from the first canoe. Completing her gruesome task, Sheila poked a couple of holes in the canoe's bottom and clambered back aboard ship. The canoes were released by the crewmen with the grappling hooks and they drifted lazily downriver, heading out to sea.

The next day, they docked at the town's pier and the shipment bound for Rabona was unloaded and placed on several stout wagons. The two warriors stood dockside and thanked the captain and his crew for a memorable voyage. Seeing the painfully shy cabin boy almost hiding behind the first mate, Teresa stepped forward and hoisted him up to her eye level, she grinned at him and planted a resounding kiss on his lips to the cheers of the captain and crew.

She smiled and said to him, "Grow up big and strong, find yourself a girl and have lots of children, so you can tell them about me!" she set him back down, tousled his hair and grinned at his beet red face, waved good bye to the ship and crew and set out for the wagon master's office.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Claymore

Chapter 6

They found the wagon master going over his wagons, he was personally inspecting the wagons, wheels and traces for defects. This shipment to Rabona was very important and getting it there in time meant repeat business for him and his suppliers, he was taking no chances.

The fugitives waited until he looked over at them and asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Teresa smiled at him and said, "We'd like passage to Rabona, we can pay or we can guard against bandits."

He looked at them more closely and said, "If you're trying to sneak into Rabona like that, you're going to have to do something about your eyes, they're a dead giveaway."

Sheila muttered, "Damn! Looks like we've got a long walk ahead of us."

The man grinned at her and replied, "Not so fast there! I didn't say I wasn't going to let you ride with us, just that you need to hide your eyes somehow. I never refuse a business opportunity. Name's Boris by the way!" and he held out his hand.

Teresa grinned at him and introduced herself as they shook hands, "I'm Teresa and this young giant is Sheila, pleased to meet you!"

Boris grinned at Sheila as he shook her hand and said, "Welcome aboard! You're a tall one and I like tall girls."

Teresa chuckled and said, "She's only fifteen summers and we warriors don't make good mates, we can't bear children."

Boris chuckled and replied, "Well, I'll be damned! You're not done growing? Whew! I want to see you when you're all grown up. You will be beautiful, of that I'm certain."

Sheila blushed quite nicely to Teresa's amusement and she commented, " Sheila, please don't ever become worldly and weary of life, you dear girl."

At dawn they hitched everything up and set out for Rabona, all three wagons were loaded with amphorae of olives and olive oil and wrapped bundles of Frankincense and Myrhh along with other goods all bound for Rabona's temple and great market place. Each wagon had a team of six sturdy horses and tethered behind the last wagon were six extra horses, the last wagon also carried spare traces and cargo straps. Riding on each wagon were three men, each acted as a driver or a teamster as needed.

Teresa and Sheila made themselves as comfortable as they could riding with the cargo. Wearing hooded cloaks and stowing their trademark swords in the wagon, the two looked like a couple of travel stained wanderers hitching a ride. The bows were kept in their waterproof sleeves and the arrows rode snugly inside their quiver, no sense in revealing this weapon just yet. Besides, either one of the two could hurl her sword with deadly accuracy up to about a quarter mile. It was strictly a last resort tactic and not encouraged as it left the warrior disarmed.

Each evening they stopped and unhitched the weary horses, they each led one of the horses to the tethering line and hung a feed bag over its muzzle, later, they would fill the collapsible pails with fresh water and water the horses. Boris built a fire and hung a pot on the tripod he placed over the fire, dried meat and wild vegetables found along the way were stirred into the hot water and soon, they had a decent stew for dinner.

The route the wagon train took was fairly direct and went overland rather than following the meandering course of the great river of Toulouse. Boris used a magnetic needle placed on a cork disc and floated in a bowl of water to steer by across the gently rolling trackless, meadowlands of the central lands.

Teresa thought it was amusing at first, relying on a floating needle to guide them, but at the end of three days travel, as they were approaching the one stretch of the river where fording was relatively easy, she was impressed.

She herself had sometimes approached the same river only to find that she was too far north or south of the ford, while swimming across the river was easy for a warrior, wading across was much to be preferred.

Stopping at the eastern side of the river, they dismounted and soon camp was set up, food was cooking, the horses were fed and watered. The two walked upstream a mile or two and stripped down to bathe in the river.

Lacking soap, fine sand worked just as well at loosening up road grime and dead skin.

When they were retuning to camp and still some small distance away and could see the camp, Teresa suddenly stopped and said tersely, "Something's wrong!"

Sheila squinted a bit and curled her hands as if forming a tube, placed it to her eye and peered through the fleshy tube, after a few moments, she said, "There are too many bodies moving around at camp and a lot of extra horses."

Teresa said grimly,

"I was wondering when we would encounter bandits. Shall we spoil their fun?"

Sheila nodded at her and the two dashed towards the beleagured encampment, swords at the ready.

The first inkling the bandits had that the warriors were there, was when half of them were already laid out stone dead.

Realizing their mortal peril, the rest threw down their weapons in surrender. Instantly, the killing stopped and the two warriors stood stock still, their great blades paused in mid-stroke.

Sheila's blade was stopped a mere finger's width from the bandit leader's neck, he blanched at the realization of just how close he'd come to dying.

Regaining their own weapons, Boris and his crew took over while the warriors stepped back and cleansed their blades. Minutes later, the surviving bandits were tied together and seated in a ragged group.

Boris, the wagon master smiled at the two and said,

"I really appreciate your help just now, they caught us by surprise, and were discussing the disposal of our bodies!"

Teresa chuckled and said,

"Well then, I don't feel so bad about killing a few of them just now."

The leader of the bandits was staring at the two warriors when he cried out,

"I thought you claymores weren't allowed to even touch humans! Won't the organization execute you or something?"

Sheila grinned at him and retorted,

"Funny how you're so concerned about us breaking the rules, when you yourselves were planning to kill our friends here. That's some kind of nerve, don'cha think?"

Teresa shrugged and remarked,

"It wouldn't be the first time I've had the organization after me."

She fixed her silver eyes on the bandit leader and said,

"It was for killing forty bandits some years ago, they weren't smart enough to know they were outclassed and they were hurting and killing the villagers that had shown me kindness. Another few seconds and all of you would've been dead and we'd be figuring out how to dispose of your bodies!" she finished with an evil grin.

Boris chuckled and said,

"You are one scary dame! I'm glad you're on my side. We'll have the prisoners dig graves for their companions, no sense getting ourselves tired out cleaning up their mess. Then we'll haul them with us to Rabona and hand them over to the magistrate there. "

The prisoners looked quite glum over the prospect of their facing the magistrate in Rabona, their fate would be grim indeed!

Crossing the wide river at the ford took more time than expected because of the long string of prisoners and extra horses to deal with.

The warriors were now on horseback and were watching the prisoners for escape attempts, bows at the ready.

Guided by the water needle once again, they traversed the meadowlands until the town of Torilo was sighted in the distance and within an hour they were being hailed by the town's watch.

Boris saluted the captain of the watch and said to him,

"We've caught some bandits, they tried to rob and kill us, but we had some help and the table was turned on them. Have you room in your guard house for them for the night?"

The watch captain glanced over at the dust covered, footsore, sorry looking lot. He thought for a moment and said, "I can take them for a night or two at the most."

He glanced over at the wagon drivers and helpers first, then the two warriors and remarked,

"I take it there were more of them before your 'help' arrived."

The bandit leader cried out, "These two warriors killed several of us! Arrest them and turn them over to the organization!"

"Quiet you!" barked a burly watchman and the captain chuckled before saying,

"If these warriors saw fit to violate the rule against killing people, then you lot are certainly guilty."

He grinned at the warriors and said,

"As a boy I lived in Rokut, a remote village. A warrior came through and left a little girl with us. Bandits came shortly afterwards and were robbing, raping and killing the villagers. The warrior came back and killed all of the bandits in seconds, then took the girl with her and left."

Teresa stared at him for a moment and asked him,

"How long ago did this happen?"

The captain thought for a bit and replied,

"I guess it was about fifteen, sixteen years or so, why do you ask?"

Teresa smiled at him and said evenly, "I was that warrior and that girl ended up becoming a warrior too, and now I'm looking for her."

A smile lit up the captains face and he exclaimed,

"I knew I'd seen you somewhere before! You're that warrior? By the God of Rabona! I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

He impulsively hugged Teresa, then stepped back and said,

"I want to thank you for what you did. You saved my sisters and my village, I've sworn an oath that I would thank you someday. Thank you!"

Teresa laughed and said cheerfully, "Since you've put it that way, you're most welcome!"

The captain smiled at her and said,

"For what it's worth, I've spoken to some of the guards from Rabona and apparently, several claymores are staying there in hiding. The Holy City changed it's policy after a group of warriors drove off an awakened being that had been hiding there."

Sheila asked,

"Would you know any of their names?"

The captain shook his head and said, "Sorry, I can't help you there. I do know that they patrol the general area and we have not had any sort of yoma incidents. Oh! And another thing, they don't wear the armor I've seen other claymores wearing, they wear all black."

Teresa thought for a few moments and asked,

"We really need to get to Rabona as soon as possible, is there a way we can go there and send for the prisoners later on?"

The captain frowned a moment then said, "We can keep them for a few days, maybe a week at most."

Seeing Teresa's look he suggested,

"I could try sending a messenger bird right now and we'll hear back from Rabona maybe by tomorrow evening. Can you wait that long?"

He pointed at one of his men and gestured towards the row of small cages along the back wall, at once the man stepped over to the cages and took out a captive bird. The captain quickly wrote a brief message on a thin slip of paper, rolled it into a tube and slipped it into a small brass tube. This was capped and tied to the bird's leg, he nodded at his underling who then stepped forward and lofted the bird high above him, the bird took wing and was soon out of sight.

Seeing the mystified looks on their faces, he chuckled and said, "These birds have a strong homing instinct, that bird is on his way to Rabona where he was hatched and raised. There, they have birds that were raised here and replies are sent by one of them."


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Claymore.

Chapter 7

A persistent rapping sound at the door, woke the warriors just before dawn, Teresa opened the door to find one of the town's watchmen standing there with a note in his hand.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" asked Teresa, the watchman smiled and said, "The holy city has replied to our message, they are sending an armed escort for the prisoners. So you're free to go at your own pace."

After some hurried "goodbyes and good lucks" Sheila and Teresa were soon miles away from Torilo, their legs were a blur and the dust shot back from their booted feet, Teresa grinned at Sheila and increased her speed. Sheila laughed and pulled ahead of her trainer, her long legs eating up the miles. Teresa tore past her with a taunting "Hah!" and once again, Sheila caught up to her and grinned as she passed by.

This went on until they were approaching the great stone bridge that crossed the river Toulouse. Clustered at the bridge there was an orderly chaos of wagons and carts all waiting their turn across. It was the great market festival and people were coming from all over the land, to buy, sell and trade. To see and be seen at the great market festival in Rabona was important to traveling merchants. Slowing down to an easy walk, the two shook the dust off of themselves and pulled their hoods over their flaxen locks after rehanging their huge swords lower on their backs to hide them from watchful eyes. The bows and arrows were left in their cases as archery was little known in the inner lands.

As they passed some bushes growing out of a clump of rocks, there was a blur of motion and a huge sword was pressing against their throats while a voice hissed,

"Don't even think about it!"

There was three of them, warriors in black, their faces hidden by hooded cloaks.

Without hesitation, Sheila punched the warrior to her left and reached for her sword, there was a sudden clashing of blades and the sounds of falling bodies as Teresa simply flattened the remaining mystery warriors. With her trademark faint smile firmly in place, Teresa stood over the warrior who had spoken, the spiky haired woman was much like herself, a powerful, experienced warrior.

After a moment or two, she opened her silvery gray eyes and looked up at Teresa without fear, she had accepted her fate.

She squinted at Teresa and asked,

"Just who are you? I didn't know the organization had such a powerful warrior as you."

Teresa smiled at her fallen adversary and replied,

"I'd like to ask you the same thing, you're very good at hiding your youki, I almost missed your presence."

Teresa squinted at the warrior for a few moments and said,

"Your youki is very complex, almost that of an awakened being yet not the same."

The recumbent warrior shrugged and replied,

"My name is Miria, I was formerly a number six, they called me the phantom. My youki, like my story is very complicated indeed."

The other two had recovered their senses and were watching the exchange between their captain and the two strange warriors.

Miria politely asked Teresa, "May I ask you who you are?"

Teresa smiled and said,

"Sorry, I forgot my manners for a minute there. My name is Teresa and I was formerly a number one, my friend here is Sheila and she is a former number forty seven."

With one voice, the three warriors cried out,

"What!? You can't be Teresa of the faint smile, she's dead!"

Teresa glanced over at Sheila and remarked,

"I get this reaction all of the time!"

She smiled at the gape mouthed warriors and said,

"The organization found a way to revive me somehow, apparently awakened being flesh was used. They had intended for me to do their dirty work out of gratitude. I felt differently about that and we left in a big hurry."

The warriors got to their feet, dusted themselves off and put away their blades. One of the warriors reached into a pouch pulled out a red apple and took a bite out of it, she grinned at Teresa and Sheila and said,

"Name's Helen, former number twenty two and this here is Deneve, a former number fifteen and I think Clare is going to lose her mind when she sees you Teresa!"

Teresa grinned and replied,

"And I'm going to be torn between hugging her and putting her across my knees for being so stupid as to join the organization!"

The warriors chuckled for a few moments then Miria looked at Teresa for a few moments and asked,

"How is it you knew to come here looking for Clare?"

Teresa smiled and said,

"Rubel alluded to me one night that you seven ghosts just might be hiding out in Rabona. This was when he asked me to escape and kill Dae on my way out. Sheila beat me to it though and we both took off in a heavy rain. We've been on our own over a year and a half now."

Deneve looked closely at Sheila and asked her,

"Just what exactly, did you do to Dae?"

Sheila answered simply, "I punished him for all of the girls he had ever touched and then I beheaded him."

"Punished? How?" asked Miria with a raised eyebrow, Teresa chuckled and declared,

"She crushed his jewels! She squeezed them so hard I heard her knuckles cracking, then he screamed like a little bitch while his eyes popped out of his head. The front of his robe was all bloody when she blooded her new sword on his neck. I had already knocked out most of the folks at the organization, so it was a while before we had any sort of pursuit."

Helen grinned at Sheila and declared,

"I like you already! C'mon, I'll buy you a drink when we get back to Rabona!"

Teresa laughed and said,

"Hold your horses there! Sheila's only just about sixteen, don't let her size fool you."

Helen frowned and said glumly,

"Is fruit juice okay?"

Sheila grinned and replied,

"Fruit juice would be great!"

After rehanging their swords and adjusting their cloaks, the five warriors crossed the great stone bridge and slipped into Rabona amidst the crush of humanity.

Neither Teresa or Sheila had ever experienced an actual city and the crowding was a bit daunting at first. So they followed the other three and slipped through the burgeoning market place, pausing only briefly while Helen and Deneve made several purchases from food sellers and stuffed them into their net bags.

Miria remarked,

"This town really gets crowded during the great market season, in a couple of more days it will be very difficult to get out to buy food. So we're stocking up now while we can."

"I guess it's a good thing we don't eat that much, this crowd is nuts!" commented Teresa.

Helen chuckled and remarked,

" We do most of our patrolling and hand to hand training at night, up on the roof tops. Sword training is done outside of town, clashing blades make noise and attract attention."

Deneve smiled slightly at Teresa and said,

"We have an agreement with the temple, we don't bring attention to ourselves and they don't ask us to leave. The guards know we're here and we've trained with them to where some of them are pretty good with a sword, not up to fighting a yoma good, but good enough to hold one off until one of us can finish the job."

Teresa smiled and remarked,

"Sheila and I have brought something with us that could help even things up in terms of fighting yoma or awakened beings, not so much for us warriors because we still have get in close and wield our swords. It would however, give ordinary humans a real leg up in a fight with a monster."

Miria opened a side door in back of the massive temple and soon, they were climbing a steep spiral staircase built inside one of the thick, stone piers of the temple.

Wordlessly, the five warriors climbed, the only sounds being their breathing, the treading of booted feet and the occasional muted clank of a heavy sword in its holder. At the top of the stairs was another heavily built door, Miria opened this and the five emerged into sunlight once more. Teresa and Sheila gaped in amazement at the view that greeted their eyes, they gazed out over the rooftops of Rabona, the walls they had climbed via the stairs were higher than nearly all of the other buildings in the the Holy City of Rabona. The great bell towers reared above their heads another one hundred feet or so, Miria led them towards a door in the juncture of the bell towers and the great temple. In this portion of the building was the former monk's quarters for the temple, now the seven ghosts of Pieta lived there, hidden from the eyes and reach of the organization.

What greeted them was the sight and sound of a naked, flaxen haired, silver eyed young girl being chased by another nearly naked, young woman with brown hair and silver eyes. The girl was yelling,

"I hate baths! I hate water! I don' wanna take a bath!"

The brown haired woman yelled back,

"Miata! You stop this! Young girls take baths to be clean and smell good! You don't want to be smelly, do you?"

Miata yelled, "I don' care! I hate baths!" and she ducked behind Teresa. The brown haired woman stopped suddenly and declared,

"Fine! Don't take a bath, be smelly, I won't let you sleep with me then!"

The girl began crying and she pleaded, "No Mama! I want to sleep with you, mama!" she struggled with herself, her fists clenched and silver eyes streaming tears until finally, she caved in and allowed the brown haired woman to lead her away to her bath.

For a moment, nothing was said, then Teresa exclaimed,

"What the hell was that all about? Are those two warriors? And what's with the brown hair?"

Miria shrugged and said,

"They came to Rabona looking for Galatea, a former number three and got mixed up in a big fight between us and a real monster of an awakened being, Bloody Agatha. After we drove her off in greatly reduced form, they couldn't justify to themselves their orders to execute Galatea, not when she had sacrificed so much to save Rabona. So they stay here and try to cope with life in general."

Sheila asked quietly,

"What are their numbers?"

Miria said quietly,

"Miata, the young one, is a former number four and Clarice, the color head, is a former number forty seven. Miata is very powerful and can easily kill yomas with her bare hands, she is pretty unstable mentally and emotionally however. Clarice was assigned to be her nursemaid of all things. Clarice does keep Miata pretty stable and is able to keep her in line for the most part. I do worry that if Clarice ever got badly hurt or worse, killed in battle, it would cause Miata to lose whatever self control she has, and she could awaken."


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Claymore

Chapter 8

Teresa absentmindedly caressed her neck and said,

"Priscilla was also like that, she was very powerful and would have surpassed me eventually. She was also pretty unstable and when I defeated her after the organization had ordered my execution. I let her live and walked away, she partially awakened and we fought furiously. Somehow, she got the drop on me and beheaded me. The next thing I knew, I was waking up back in organization headquarters almost fifteen years later."

The door opened and a tall, flaxen haired woman dressed in a nun's habit entered the spacious room. She smiled at Teresa and said pleasantly,

"Hello Clare, have you found your young man yet?"

Teresa saw at once the woman's damaged eyes, she was blind. Teresa said apologetically,

"I'm sorry, I'm not Clare."

The woman looked confused for a few moments and she said apologetically,

"I'm sorry, I could've sworn you were Clare, your youki is so similar."

Miria spoke up, "Galatea, this is Teresa of the faint smile and her companion is Sheila, a recent number forty seven."

Galatea's mouth gaped briefly and she exclaimed,

"But, Teresa is dead, she died before I became a warrior! How is this possible?"

Galatea stepped forward and her long fingered hands lightly explored Teresa's face, touching her ever so gently. She stepped back and said with a smile,

"Whoever you are, you are beautiful."

Galatea frowned slightly and asked, "What about Clare? If she was here, she would clear this up at once."

Teresa sighed and said quietly,

"All I can tell you is what Rubel told me after I was revived, Dae had found a way to revivify warrior corpses. Apparently, I was supposed to come after you all and eliminate you for desertion. He figured that I was powerful enough to take on any fugitive warriors."

Teresa chuckled and remarked,

"I guess he forgot that I was always a bit of a rebel myself and didn't always toe the organization's line."

Sheila spoke up and said,

"About six months after she awoke and right after I got my ranking, we left the organization. That was almost two years ago now."

Galatea smiled at Sheila's voice and reached out her hands to touch her face, Galatea smiled at once and said cheerfully,

"You're tall like me! And you're beautiful too."

Galatea's fingers gently explored Sheila's face, upper body and arms, her beautiful face smiling radiantly all the while.

"How old are you Sheila?" asked Galatea gently, Sheila replied, "I'm almost sixteen summers."

Galatea smiled and said,

"Soon, you'll be taller than I am, I was the tallest warrior, but not any more, you will take my place."

Teresa chuckled and remarked,

"I could've told you that! Sheila's grown out of several sets of clothing during our travels, it's ridiculous!"

Helen suddenly got the giggles until Deneve grabbed her arm and declared,

"C'mon you! We've got chores to do. Let the grown ups talk." Helen grumbled a bit and went with Deneve through another door.

Teresa turned to Galatea and asked,

"What was your former ranking and how did you lose your eyes, if I may ask?"

Galatea smiled at her and replied, "I was a number three, I came here in search of an awakened being named "Bloody Agatha" she had been a number two and I suspected she was hiding in Rabona. During the confusion after the battle of the north, I slipped away, blinded myself and came here as a nun to hide from the organization and seek out Bloody Agatha. Miata and Clarice found me out just as Bloody Agatha came out of hiding."

She smiled wistfully and said,

"I had a rough time of it at first, fighting Agatha and fending off Miata's attacks while trying to get it through to her that Agatha was the real enemy, not me. Fortunately, Clare and her friends arrived in time to reduce Agatha to her human remnants and drive her off."

Miria added,

"Galatea was fine with Clarice and Miata finishing their mission to execute her and had even knelt to receive the killing stroke. They just couldn't justify killing her, not after she had saved so many lives, so they stayed."

Teresa glanced around at the room they were in, it was austere with dressed stone walls and only a few homey touches to make it seem warmer. Several large wooden tables with benches on each side made up the bulk of the furnishings, each table had a basket holding either fruit or nuts sitting on it. At one end of the room was a large brick stove and oven for cooking and heat in winter and the opposite end had a generous sized fireplace. Hanging from the stout timbers overhead were three large oil lanterns, each dangling at the end of a length of chain. The outside wall had tall, narrow windows in it to let in air and light, wooden shutters kept out the winter's chill. Alongside the stove were shelves that had earthenware bowls, drinking mugs and platters stacked on them. Another cabinet had the freshly purchased foods placed inside for later.

Miria asked her,

"What do you think?" Teresa chuckled and replied, "It certainly doesn't seem like a den of rogues to me. I was expecting something a bit more... Sinister, perhaps?"

Miria laughed and replied,

"Sorry, If I'd known you were coming, I'd have arranged for some human remains to be lying about."

Galatea smiled at Teresa and said cheerfully,

"I think you'll be good for Miria, I've never heard her laugh before. Always so serious, our captain Miria."

Teresa replied soberly,

"I don't blame her for being serious. The organization has never had so many deserters get organized before and something is definitely up in the south. Had I not taken off with Sheila, they would have sent me there to look around and see what I find. Reviving me wasn't the only experiment Dae was conducting, he was playing around with awakened being flesh and fiddling with the results. Part of my job there was killing the experiments that went out of control and believe me, some of them were really awful!"

Miria frowned and said,

"Unfortunately, much of our information is several years old. The one good bit of news is that Dae is dead thanks to Sheila here. So their pet monster maker is gone, unless he had an apprentice or two, they'll have a time making new creatures."

Teresa and Galatea both suddenly perked up as if they'd heard something. Galatea smiled and said, "Clare, Cynthia and Uma are back. They're approaching Rabona at this very moment."

Teresa's face was softly smiling as she said,

"I haven't felt like this in along time." she glanced around at her new friends and said quietly,

"Clare was hardly more than a child the last time I saw her. She saw me get beheaded, I can't even imagine how she felt about my defeat."

She laughed nervously,

"How will I even begin to explain my being alive? I really am at a loss for words."

Sheila smiled at her friend and traveling companion and said,

"Somehow Teresa, you'll say the right thing. You've never lied even once to me about anything, just tell her the truth."

For something to do while waiting for Clare's return, Sheila built up a fire in the brick stove and began heating a pot of water. She took out a knife and started working on the ingredients Helen and Deneve had brought from the food stalls. Before long, the pot of water was now a pot of soup and the meat had been cut into small steaks and was sizzling in a flat pan.

The door opened slowly and a shadowy figure stood in the dimly lit hallway, two other shadowy figures lurked behind. Slender hands reached up and pulled back the hood to reveal a young woman's silvery eyed face with a pageboy haircut, she glanced around and saw Miria standing and talking to an unfamiliar figure standing with her back to her, her eyes also took in a tall, lanky woman standing at the stove and talking to Galatea. Their faint youki signatures were strange to her, though the wavy haired woman's seemed oddly familiar.

Clare asked,

"Miria? What is going on? Who are these people?"

Miria smiled at Clare and said,

"Say hello to..." Clare didn't hear the rest as the woman had turned to face her and she saw for the first time in many long and weary years, the living face of her most dearly beloved savior, Teresa. Clare's heart nearly stopped its beating, her breath caught in her throat and the strength fled from her limbs.

Clare swayed and nearly toppled before Teresa caught her and clasped her to her lush bosom, then half-carried her to the nearest bench and sat down with her.

Clare's arms encircled Teresa and she gasped out,

"T...Ter...Teresa? You're alive? H...How? How did this happen?.."

Clare leaned back slightly and gazed intensely at Teresa, then she frowned and cried in anguish,

"I saw you die! Priscilla swept off your head with her sword then she awakened and just walked away... I was less than nothing to her and she just walked by me."

Clare's eyes filled with tears long held back and she wept freely while Teresa's strong arms held her closely.

The other two shadowy figures had entered the room and Miria quietly introduced Sheila to them. "Cynthia, Yuma, this is Sheila, she and Teresa over there, arrived here earlier today, they're also fugitives."

Sheila smiled at both of them and said,

"It's a pleasure to be here, we haven't slept indoors or had regular baths for some time now." Cynthia grinned at Sheila, looked at the bubbling pot and exclaimed,

"A warrior who can cook, is very welcome here!"

Yuma looked slightly puzzled and asked,

"I feel sorta stupid for asking, but who is Teresa and what is she to Clare?"

Clare, having returned to her usual taciturn self, stood up and announced,

"When all of us are gathered here tonight, I will tell my story and my connection with Teresa here."

She turned towards Teresa and asked her,

"How did you know I would be here?"

Teresa smiled at her adoptive daughter and replied,

"It was Rubel actually, not long after I was revived by Lord Dae. Rubel came to us and told me the story of the battle in the north and how you, along with twenty three other problematic warriors were sent there to stop an army of awakened beings assembled by Isley. By implication and little else, he led me to conclude that there were survivors and that they might be hidden amongst the people of Rabona. When Sheila and I left, we daren't come straight here, that's what would have been expected of us, to lead them right to their problematic fugitives. So we took the long way round the continent, hiring out as guards for caravans and hitching a ride on a cargo ship to visit several outlying islands where we found some things that will help even out the fight for humans."

Miria asked her,

"You've mentioned these "somethings" before, what are they?"

Teresa smiled and said,

"I'm going to show these items to the city guard and hopefully, they'll spread across this land. Like Clare said earlier, I will show these items when we are all gathered."


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Claymore

Chapter 9

That evening after the tolling of the seventh hour ceased reverberating. Clare stood up and faced the gathering, she laid one hand on Teresa's shoulder and spoke clearly,

"Teresa of the faint smile has come back to me. When I was a young girl, Teresa rescued me from a yoma that had held me captive and brutalized me."

She glanced around at the faces of all the warriors in Rabona,

"We were in the village of Teo. Teresa came and killed him, I saw her as my savior even though she felt differently at first, in spite of being told not to follow her, I did it anyway. In our travels, Teresa killed a group of bandits in Rokut village and so, the organization sent a group of warriors to punish her for the killing. During the fight, the number two at the time, a young warrior novice named Priscilla, beheaded Teresa and then awakened. I went to the organization carrying Teresa's head and asked to become a warrior, her flesh was implanted inside me and so I became not a half yoma, half human , but rather, a quarter yoma. I swore revenge against Priscilla for taking away from me the only person who had ever loved me unconditionally. Teresa was my savior, she gave me back my life, my spirit and my humanity. This was my sole reason for living, to exact revenge on Priscilla. Now Teresa is back in my life, not as a painful memory, but as a living person and now, getting revenge on Priscilla seems a little moot."

Clare sat back down and Teresa rose, she gestured to Sheila, Sheila opened up the slipcase and slipped out the unstrung bow, she picked up the string and quickly strung the bow and picked up an arrow.

Teresa paused a moment and said,

"This is what we found on one of the offshore islands, it's a bow and arrows and the method is called archery. Think of an arrow as a tiny spear driven at high speed by the bow."

Miria smiled at Teresa and said gently, "We've seen those before I'm afraid. The city guards have archery squads now."

The look on Teresa's face was a study in surprise, poor Helen dissolved into the giggles at the sight until Deneve elbowed her roughly and declared,

"Pay no attention to the idiot! She's had a few too many hits to the head."

Recovering her composure, Teresa asked. "When did archery get here? The organization sure suppressed it when I was alive."

Helen rested her elbow on Deneve's shoulder and remarked,

"Has anyone told her, she's alive now?"

Teresa smiled at Deneve and asked her,

"Have you considered having her committed?" Helen's face reddened at the sly dig at her sanity. Miria held up her hand for quiet and she asked Teresa,

"You mentioned a couple of things, would a part of it be related to what you and Sheila told us earlier?"

Teresa smiled at Miria and gestured to Sheila, Sheila cleared her throat and announced, "Lord Dae is dead and I killed him myself."

Clarice suddenly laughed and impulsively hugged Miata while crying,

"He's dead Miata! That frightful man who gave you nightmares. He is DEAD!"

Tabitha raised her hand for attention and when Miria recognized her she asked Sheila,

"When did you kill Dae? This is the first I've heard of this event."

Sheila smiled at Tabitha and replied,

"Over a year and a half ago, It was shortly after I'd gotten my ranking and sword, he'd summoned me to his lab for the purpose of using me to help him deflower three young girls. I just snapped and yelled at him, he reached for the bell rope to summon help, I pulled down the rope myself and then crushed his genitals until I felt them burst. I beheaded him while he sat on the floor of his lab, I didn't care what happened to me after that, I had gotten my own revenge. I turned around and there was Teresa grinning at me, we left in a big hurry because the people Teresa had knocked out would be waking soon and we wanted a lot of miles between us and the organization."

Tabitha smiled at her and remarked,

"That is certainly a fitting end to that monster."

Yuma asked next, "What was your ranking?"

"I was number forty seven." replied Sheila.

Cynthia chuckled and said, "We seem to have stolen all of the number forty sevens, there's three here by my reckoning."

Deneve asked them,

"You told Miria that Rubel had hinted that we might be alive and hiding here in Rabona. Why did it take you so long to finally get here?"

Teresa replied,

"We figured that the organization would think we fled here right off and would either come looking or send people looking for us. We went all over really, and saw much of the land and several of the outlying islands."

Miria frowned a moment and remarked,

"We didn't see any increase in warriors sneaking about Rabona, it could be Rubel didn't tell his superiors about his suspicions on our whereabouts. Clare had an encounter with him a while back and he alluded to his being a spy for the enemy of the organization."

That started a flurry of conversations all at once, with each of the ghosts all talking and trying to make herself heard over the others.

Miria suddenly rapped a large spoon on the table for a moment and when everyone was looking at her, she said,

"We have a situation where there are several warriors here now, who outrank me by ranking number and in the case of Teresa, experience. As you know I was number six, Miata is number four, Galatea is number three and Teresa is a number one."

Teresa spoke up quickly, "For what it's worth, I am not interested in taking charge here. Miria, you all have a rapport built up over several years. I just arrived today and to tell you the truth, I almost never led any awakened being hunting parties. The other warriors of my time shied away from me and the organization usually sent me alone after awakened beings."

Galatea smiled and said softly,

"My fighting days are pretty much over and even if my sight was restored with Cynthia's and Yuma's help, I wouldn't have the deep knowledge of your individual strengths and weaknesses that Miria has. I too, for similar reasons, worked pretty much alone."

Everyone looked at Miata, her response was to to blush and cling to Clarice.

Helen grinned and said,

"Well Miria, I guess you're still the captain around here!"

Miria looked around the room and after a moment of thought, said, "You all get to work out the sleeping arrangements amongst yourselves and tomorrow at midday, we will be heading out to our training grounds for some sword exercises." She glanced at Teresa and said to her, "I want to see just how strong you really are, so I won't be going easy on you." Teresa smiled at Miria and replied, "Aye aye, boss."

Miria smiled back and said as a final admonition, "Remember ladies, practice suppressing our youki at all times. Meeting adjourned!"

As Teresa rose from her seat, Miria lightly touched her left arm and said quietly, "I'm going to introduce both of you to Captain Galk in the morning, the sooner he knows of you, the better."

Clare insisted on having Teresa share her bed and Sheila had trouble finding a bed long enough for her lanky frame which gave Helen a fit of the giggles. Finally, she resorted to cutting the foot board off her bed and letting her feet hang over the end. This led to more chuckles from Helen, Deneve came to Sheila's rescue by asking her,

"You're pretty good with a blade, did you learn this from the organization?"

Sheila smiled and replied cheerfully, "Nah! They taught me just enough to die in my first battle. Teresa's been training and sparring with me for almost two years now."

Deneve gave her a rare smile and said,

"With Teresa as your trainer, you've probably had some pretty intense sparring sessions."

"I also did much of the fighting when we found a yoma, it was mostly for me to gain experience. Though I did see her utterly dominate an awakened being before she killed her." replied Sheila.


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Claymore.

Chapter 10

That morning, Miria introduced the newcomers to Captain Galk, commander of the city guard. After a brief round of introductions, Miria announced,

"Captain Galk, Teresa and Sheila arrived yestereve to join us."

Captain Galk grinned at them and declared,

"Your swords are most welcome here!"

Teresa grinned back at him and said, "In all of my travels, this town is the only place I've seen that actually has people trained to fight and doesn't ask the organization for help, I like that!"

They joined the rest of the warriors as they left town to go train, leaving in groups of two or three the eleven of them went in different directions until out of sight of the town's high walls, then they dashed across country and joined together to meet at the hidden glen that was their training ground. Threading their way through the dense brush, Sheila was following Helen and Deneve and Teresa was close behind, while Clare was practically in Teresa's shadow, this caused Helen to joke,

"Damn, girl! If Teresa farts, you're gonna die!"

Clare just trudged along ignoring Helen's rude jests.

The glen itself was nestled against the shoulder of a mountain, here and there, huge boulders dotted the grassy area, mute evidence of past upheavals beyond even the power of the organization.

Helen grinned and began doing cartwheels and front flips, back flips and leaping up onto the boulders and jumping off again. Teresa laughed and began emulating Helen's antics even if Clare just shook her head in disbelief.

Miria urged, "They've got the right idea, follow their lead!"

Soon all of them were gamboling about like happy school girls, except they were all armed with a huge sword, had silvery gray eyes and were the deadliest fighters of all.

It stopped suddenly when Helen extended an arm to reach an apple on a tree, Teresa stopped immediately and blurted out,

"What the hell did you just do?"

She frowned darkly and said grimly,

"What are you Helen? How is it that you can do that?"

Her sword hand hovered near the polished grip on her great sword. Helen turned whiter than her usual shade of pale, she gulped and in a voice tinged with fear said,

"I am partially awakened."

Helen stood absolutely still, she knew that should Teresa decide to take her life, she would not be able to stop her, so not moving a muscle was her best choice. Miria joined Helen, then Deneve and finally, Clare stepped alongside Helen.

Clare spoke in a clear voice,

"We four, are all partially awakened, we've all been to the edge of awakening but didn't for some reason. For me, it was a young boy named Raki who kept me from going over."

Teresa stood staring at them, her sword hand perilously close to the sword's long grip. After an interminably long pause, Teresa relaxed her stance, sighed deeply and walked away from them until she reached a shade tree and sat beneath the green canopy.

Only then did Helen finally exhale, she was shaking as she spoke,

"I have never felt such fear before and I've fought so many awakened beings and dodged away from Riful of the west and Isley of the north. Teresa's really scary! Is that what you meant by a number one being a monster, Miria?"

Miria frowned and said,

"Well, I know now how she would react to finding out we're partially awakened beings."

Clare looked distraught and she said thickly,

"Teresa's alive again and for a brief time I was like her little girl again, Damn! Why did this partial awakening bullshit have to come up so damn soon?"

Clare's profane outburst had a peculiar effect on Helen, she started laughing, she laughed until she was almost helpless and lying on the greensward holding her sore ribs.

Deneve just rolled her eyes and quipped,

"I knew she would snap one of these days, she always did have a slippery hold on reality."

Helen finally got herself up and wiped the tears from her eyes, she looked at Clare and said,

"I'm sorry Clare, for laughing like I did, Teresa really scared me and when you said what you did? It was so out of character for you that I just lost it."

She glanced over at Teresa's distant form, Miata and Clarice had joined her and were sparring while Teresa watched.

Helen said softly to Clare, "If there's anything I can do to help, just ask O.K.?"

Clare gave Helen one of her rare smiles and thanked her.

The seven ghosts left Teresa alone to resolve her issues with four of them being partially awakened and simply trained as if she wasn't there. Miata and Clarice had joined Teresa and were sparring while she watched and offered advice on sword techniques.

Sheila had paired up with Yuma and the two sparred for most of the afternoon, while Yuma had been a number forty, during her time in the north she had trained as hard as any of them and it showed in that she easily outclassed Sheila, though Sheila did give a good accounting for herself.

During a rest period, Miria asked Yuma, "How would you rate Sheila?"

Yuma glanced over at Sheila's lanky form stretched out on the grass, looked back at Miria and replied,

"She's not a weakling, her speed is good and with more training she'll get faster, she has more reach than me but keeps her sword close to her, making it hard to get inside her guard. She has learned things from Teresa that she didn't learn in training and isn't shy about using either her fist or a belt knife, if an opening comes up in close combat."

Miria gazed at Sheila and remarked quietly,

"She is going to end up taller than Galatea and when she grows muscles to suit her frame, she'll be quite strong. I can't say she'll ever be very fast, but if she can fight with a sword, a knife or her fists, she will be a good defensive warrior."

"She can also fight with nuts!" came the voice from behind her. Miria turned to see Teresa standing near her, Miria felt a thrill pass over her, she had not felt or heard Teresa approaching.

Puzzled, Miria asked,

"I beg your pardon? She fights with nuts?"

Teresa smiled slightly and replied,

"It was a standoff situation with a yoma, he had his claws at a woman's throat, neither one of us could move without her dying. Sheila stuck her sword in the dirt, took out a hard nut that was in her pouch and showed it to the yoma. When he started yelling at her, she snapped her wrist and the nut got him right between the eyes. He fell like he was stunned and Sheila clipped off his head neat as you please. It was a trick I sure wouldn't have thought of."

Miria grinned and said, "Let me add 'resourceful' to my assessment!"

Teresa glanced over at Helen, then Deneve and Clare and back to Miria again, she said thoughtfully,

"My reaction was more out of surprise than anything else. To me, there was always just warriors and awakened beings. I had little in common with my fellow warriors and I slaughtered awakened beings without compunction. To hear that you four were not just fugitives, but half awakened beings? It was not something I was prepared for, I had never heard of such a thing. I have observed your training and see that much of your strength is not just individual power but cohesiveness as well. You seven are the team the organization could never assemble and it is to your benefit. No team they can assemble will be much of a threat to you so long as the organization continues to exist."

Miria thought about Teresa's words for a couple of minutes then replied, "We five are the only ones in existence, we have taken great pains to keep it from the organization, though we suspect that Rubel may know of us. He was the one who chose to add our names to the twenty four who were sent to the north."

"Five? I see just four, who's the fifth?" asked Teresa, Miria replied,

"Jean, the former number nine. Like the rest of us, she survived the battle at Pieta, though she decided to go her own way after she repaid her debt to Clare."

"Debt?" "Clare brought her back from the brink of awakening and rescued her from Riful of the West."

"Ah! I've met her." Miria gaped briefly and Teresa explained, "I was returning from an awakened being hunt and our paths crossed, I chopped up her boyfriend pretty badly and she objected to it. We fought to a standstill and we went our separate ways. I never did tell the organization about that little fracas."

Teresa walked up to Helen and Deneve and said, "I apologize for what I did earlier, I didn't know about your half awakened state and was surprised when you extended your arm like that."

Helen looked at her with genuine surprise and replied,

"Thank you! I appreciate that. To tell you the truth, I've never really interacted with a number one before and up until meeting Miria, when we were assigned to hunt what turned out to be a male awakened being. I had never even seen a warrior with such high ranking as number six. Deneve and I always worked together, so I had no real opportunity to work with a low number warrior."

Teresa chuckled and replied, " Well, you're working with former numbers one, three, four and six now. Plus I have the feeling that others of you will have more surprises for me."

Teresa's face grew serious and she said wistfully,

"Having been a number one. I can tell you it is a lonely place to be. No warriors ever tried to make friends with me and the organization always sent me on very dangerous missions. Clare saw through my 'Hard Assed Bitch' act and broke down my emotional barriers, even though others considered me a monster. To Clare, I was just Teresa and she gave me a sense of contentment that killing a hundred yomas or awakened beings never could."


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Claymore.

Chapter 11

Teresa glanced over at Clare who was sparring with Sheila, and said,

"She allowed me to be soft and have feelings, to cry. We saved each other from loneliness and despair."

Teresa sighed and muttered,

"If I could have been there for her a while longer, perhaps she would have never joined the organization."

She looked back at Helen and Deneve, grinned and said,

"Maybe this is the way it was supposed to be. I'm alive again, Clare is all grown up now and has friends and hopefully, they'll become my friends too."

Helen just grinned at her and said, "Sure, why not!" she jerked a thumb at Deneve who had been simply listening to Teresa's musing and quipped,

"Don't mind the stiff here, she's always like this!"

Deneve just rolled her eyes and asked Teresa,

"Would you like to spar with us? I'm curious as to what sort of power a number one would have."

Teresa grinned and asked,

"Both of you at once? Seems hardly fair, let's add Miria to even things out!"

Helen blurted out,

"Two against two?"

Teresa grinned and replied,

"Nope! Three against one."

Helen gaped while Teresa turned and called out,

"Miria! You, Deneve and Helen against me. How about it?" Miria grinned and drew her blade as she approached the trio, Helen and Deneve drew their own blades while Teresa remained empty handed with her faint smile in place.

Helen cried, "Now what?"

Teresa grinned and said, "Try to cut me, that's all. A slight nick will be fine. The object is to actually touch me."

When they hesitated, Teresa said reassuringly,

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Now, come at me!" she commanded.

Helen charged, her sword sweeping towards Teresa with murderous intent, Helen nearly stumbled when Teresa, instead of being in front of her was suddenly alongside her saying,

"Watch your opponent now!" just as she vanished, then she said,

"Pay attention now!" just before she playfully tapped her forefinger on Deneve's forehead.

Miria went into phantom mode and was surprised when Teresa appeared alongside her and said, "That's a nice trick!"

Teresa seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once.

The trio stopped briefly to get their bearings and heard Teresa's voice cheerfully taunt, "What're you doing over there? I'm right here!" she was sitting cross legged on a nearby boulder.

Helen cried in frustration, "Hey! Play fair damnit!"

Teresa laughed and said,

"Since when does the organization play fair? If you girls really want to take them down. Be prepared to take some losses and to bleed a little."

She stood up and jumped down to the grass and walked towards them, they braced themselves and a moment later, there was a brief clashing of blades and they found themselves disarmed, their sword hands stinging slightly while their swords lay right where they had landed after being knocked from their hands.

Only Teresa remained armed, her huge sword at the ready.

"That's the technique I used when I defeated the first group of warriors sent to punish me, except I cut them down but didn't kill them. The second group was numbers two through five, that was a bit more of a real fight until Priscilla got lucky after I had spared her."

Helen muttered, "Damn! This time I was ready for you, you really are fast!"

Waiting until the trio rearmed themselves, Teresa smiled and said, "Okay, we'll spar now, no more showing off." Soon, the four of them were engaged in a deadly ballet, the rhythm of the swirling blades flashing in the sun, the tune they danced to.

While Teresa's face wore her trademark faint smile, Helen gritted her teeth and Deneve looked grim, Miria wore the look of utter determination to disarm Teresa.

Helen grunted when Teresa landed a heavy blow on her blade and sparks shot from the impact, Teresa said cooly,

"You're pretty good Helen, a little more self control and reining in that temper of yours, you'd be ranked as a single digit easy. Deneve, You wield your blades nicely, you're not one for wasted motion with either hand."

Miria bored into Teresa, she was now using her new technique 'phantom sword'. Though it was blazingly fast, Teresa simply adjusted her speed to match Miria blow for blow. Miria was now gritting her teeth in a snarl, her eyes fixed on Teresa.

Helen and Deneve had stepped back to let the two spar, their forms becoming indistinct, their blades, a shimmering nimbus of steel and the frightful din of the clashing blades drowning out any other sounds, dust and fine sand blew away from the sheer force of will coming from both combatants.

To the watching warriors it seemed that a titanic struggle was occurring, a war between goddesses and suddenly, it was over. Both contestants, standing with heaving bosoms while they leaned on their great swords thrust firmly into the grassy surface.

Teresa straightened up first, she grinned at Miria and said.

"You're very good Captain Miria, easily the equal of most awakened beings. I haven't had that good a workout in a long time. Thanks!"

Teresa turned around to see Clare glaring at both of them. Puzzled, Teresa asked her, "What's wrong, Clare?"

Clare all but shouted,

"Are you crazy? Sparring like that with Miria? What if she'd slipped up and hurt you? I couldn't bear to lose you again!"

Taken aback, Teresa's eyes narrowed slightly, then she stepped up to Clare and slapped her hard. Clare recoiled from the blow and stood in shock with her cheek colored an angry red. Her eyes watered up and she covered her ruddy cheek as she looked at Teresa in hurtful surprise.

Teresa looked at her coldly and declared,

"I will spar with whomever I please, I am by far, more experienced and older than you. I may have been dead these last fifteen years, but I was a number one ranked warrior and I need to spar with warriors who can at least, make me work a little."

Silence reigned supreme until Teresa smiled again at Clare and said gently,

"I appreciate your concern for my safety, but give me some room, okay?"

Clare smiled back at her and the two hugged briefly. Stepping back, Teresa squinted at Clare for a moment and asked, "What is it about your youki that is so odd? I get an aura from your right arm that is like your own and yet different too. Why is that?"

Clare held out her arms side by side, her right arm was slightly longer and more muscular . She answered,

"I lost my own right arm in a fight with Ophelia, a number four and would have lost my life too, but I was rescued by a fugitive warrior who nursed me back to health and taught me her sword technique. She lent me her right arm before I left her."

Teresa examined Clare's 'borrowed' right arm and she asked,

"Was it Ilena? I sense her youki in this arm, her 'quick sword' was very fast."

Clare hesitated a moment, then nodded a 'yes' Teresa glared and in a menacing voice, asked, "Where, is this Ophelia now?"

Clare said quietly,

"She apparently awakened and I ran into her after I had left Ilena's hiding place. We fought and I defeated her."

Miria suddenly blurted out,

"You killed Ophelia? She was a number four and would have been a monster of an awakened being."

Teresa chuckled and said,

"Ilena was a number two and a damn good one, her arm alone was enough to defeat a number four. Even an awakened one, I'll have to thank her if she's still alive."

Clare looked glum and said sadly,

"I'm afraid the organization executed her over seven years ago."

Teresa looked somber then she drew her sword and held it high, pointing it straight up, she cried in a ringing voice, "I shall avenge thee Ilena, by all that I hold dear, I shall see the organization fall into the dust."

She rehung her great sword and turned to face Miria and Clare, her eyes brimming with tears. In a voice choked with emotion, Teresa said softly,

"Ilena was much like me, a bit of a loner and a free thinker. If I was to call any of the warriors I knew, a friend? Ilena came closest to being that friend."

The shadows had grown long, it was late afternoon and soon, night would fall. Miria called a halt to the day's training, Miata didn't want to stop sparring with Teresa, so she simply plucked Miata's sword from her hands in mid-swing.

Miata's eyes opened wide and she yelled,

"Hey?! What th... You took my sword!"

Clarice chuckled and said to her, "I think it's time to head home dear. Teresa will give you back your sword once you promise to stop for today, Okay?"

Miata smiled at her and said, "Okay mama, I promise!"

The childlike warrior grinned when Teresa gave her back her sword and said to her, "We'll play again soon,okay?" Miata cried, "I like you! You're really strong." "I like you too!" Teresa replied. Their journey home was the reverse of the trip out, first they scattered and slipped back into town by twos then slipped into the back entrance to the huge temple where they found Galatea waiting for them.

She had a message... After they had washed up and were relaxing, Galatea stood up and cleared her throat.

"I am getting signs of yoma auras moving about to the south and west of here, these are not the usual lone warrior, an awakened being or yoma signatures. They are big ones and they are not trying to hide. I'm guessing perhaps the remaining abyssal, Riful of the west. I'm also getting signs of warriors taking youki suppressants moving about in the west as well."

Her placid face frowned slightly and she asked, "I'm afraid I'm going to need my eyes back for the coming battle. Cynthia, Yuma, could you two assist me in restoring my sight?"

Tabitha blurted out, "Won't you lose your youki reading powers?"

Galatea smiled at her and replied, "I expect some loss of sensitivity and I trust that you will assist me in long range sensing, eh! Tabitha?"

"Of course I'll assist you Galatea, I'm surprised you asked!" replied Tabitha with a grin.


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Claymore.

Chapter 12

The next morning as the warriors trickled into the kitchen and dining area they found Miria and a red eyed Galatea waiting for them. On a bench nearby, Cynthia and Yuma were laid out sound asleep and on the big table was spread out a map of the land. While Galatea pressed warm, wet cloths to her eyes, Miria spoke,

"We are going to scout out the areas mentioned by Galatea last night. Teresa, you will take Clare, Cynthia and Sheila. You will go into the west and scout around for anything unusual. Deneve, you will take Helen and Yuma to investigate the south. Again, just scout around and take note of anything you see."

She paused a moment then added.

"This goes for all of you, do not get into unnecessary fights with warriors or awakened beings, I just want you to look around. Go back to your old home towns if you like, tie up any loose ends you may have. Galatea, Miata, Clarice, Tabitha and myself will stay here. This approaching battle could be the end of us, I don't want you to have unresolved issues in your mind. If you decide to stay with an old friend or family, I will understand."

The warriors all looked back and forth at each other until Deneve asked the question on each of their minds,

"If we do make contact with an abyssal or an awakened being, do we let them know we want to bring down the organization? And what if they want to join us?"

Teresa chuckled and remarked,

"Asking an abyssal to join us? That's some real nerve there!"

Miria shrugged and replied,

"If you are not able to avoid either one, being straight forward couldn't hurt. Who knows it might keep you alive! Enlisting either one would be a real coup against the organization."

Teresa grinned and remarked, " Either an awakened being or an abyssal could be real handy in an assault on the organization. They've got a couple of real heavyweight warriors they keep close to home, they're twins and they wear some sort of special armor. I had to spar with them and they are very good, it was always one at a time while the other one stood by and I guess, kept the one fighting's impulses in check."

Miria grimaced and said,

"Well, that answers a question that was on my mind, Alicia and Beth are complete."

"Alicia and Beth?"

Asked Teresa, "I never did hear their names, I was just told to spar with them. It was very strange, unless they were sparring neither one ever said a word, and any attempts on my part to ask about them were rebuffed by their handler."

Galatea remarked,

"I remember them as well, like Teresa said, any attempts to approach them was discouraged. I did notice that they shared the exact same youki aura, like the yoma flesh was the same for both of them."

Miria glanced around the room, her eyes briefly making contact with each of the warriors. She paused a moment and said,

"Alicia and Beth were twins taken from their birth parents shortly after their birth. Raised from infancy by the organization, they are intended to be strong enough to take on an abyssal and just may be the strongest warriors ever, sorry Teresa."

Teresa simply shrugged and gestured for Miria to continue her narrative. "Rumors that I've heard and things I've seen, indicate that they can awaken at will. Provided one remains in control of the flow of youki, the other can awaken and deal with the targeted abyssal."

Deneve commented, "I see a weakness in that approach, what if the one monitoring the flow of youki gets attacked? They sound like machines, all muscle and no brain."

"Very powerful machines though, any one of us might be smarter and have more experience in battle. I'd still be very careful with them." replied Miria.

"Riful would take them apart! She's very smart and can analyze a warrior's skills very quickly. Provided she is not real badly injured at the outset? I don't see them being a real threat to her." commented Teresa.

"Don't forget that great oaf she lives with, Dauf may be slow, but he was a number three and in his awakened form? He's a tough nut to crack!" remarked Clare.

Galatea chuckled and said, "Clare and I had a little set to with Riful and Dauf almost eight years ago when we rescued Jean. Dauf did much of the fighting while Riful just watched, had she decided to join in? Well, we wouldn't be here now."

Teresa looked at Clare for a long moment, then commented, "Well, you do have a few stories to tell me don't you? Surviving an encounter with Riful of the west took some doing, I want to hear the details!"

The gray mists of dawn revealed seven cloaked figures emerging from a clump of bushes near the strong walls of Rabona. There was a murmuring of voices and seven great, shimmering blades swept out and met in the center of the group as a salute. Three of the seven walked towards the south and the remaining four went west. Soon, the morning mists had swallowed them. Up on the wall, a silver eyed cloaked figure had watched them depart and held watch until the groups had disappeared, only then did the solitary figure leave the wall.

Teresa set the pace as they headed west, behind her went in order, Clare, Cynthia and Sheila. Teresa and Sheila had brought their bows and and a quiver full of arrows each, Clare had raised one eyebrow at their decision, but had said nothing. To her, it was obvious that Teresa and Sheila had shared many adventures and had developed a close friendship, that was unlike her own relationship with Teresa. Theirs was more of a student and teacher while hers was like a mother and daughter. Cynthia, on the other hand was not close to any of them, she had become friends with Yuma and Tabitha and with whom, she had developed powerful healing abilities. Cynthia was their healer in case they ran into trouble and one of them got hurt really badly.

Soon, the grasslands surrounding Rabona gave way to the low, shrub covered hills, lying between the grasslands and the western mountains. Here, Teresa used her bow to shoot a wild goat which soon ended up roasting on a spit, propped over the fire Sheila had built. While the others ate, Sheila carefully tended to the roasting, making sure the meat was well cooked and carefully wrapped for traveling.

Cynthia remarked cheerfully,

"You sure would've been welcome up there in the north, Sheila. This is pretty good meat and you've cooked it well."

Sheila grinned at her and replied,

"I learned it from my dad, I was the oldest and he would take me with him on hunting trips. It didn't matter to him that I was a girl, he took me along anyway!"

She looked wistful and said quietly,

"The awakened being came at night, I woke up to find my parents already eaten, I managed to hide long enough for it to look at another house and snuck away. The next morning, the men in black showed up and gathered up the orphaned girls, I don't know what became of the boys."

"The slavers got them."

Said the usually reticent Clare, she looked over at Sheila and continued, "Up in the north, I found the cages where the boys were kept before they were sold to the mine operators."

"Were you looking for someone when you saw those cages?" Asked Sheila, Clare replied quietly, "Yes, I was looking for a boy I had traveled with for a time. I had found evidence that he had been there in one of those cages and after the awakened beings had attacked and devoured everyone. He somehow survived and made his escape, I lost his trail after that, though I believe he may have gone south."


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Claymore.

Chapter 13

While climbing the fir clad slopes of the western mountains, they came across the scene of a bloody battle. Bits of bone and dried flesh littered the area, the shattered state of the bone fragments told a tale of an abyssal fighting for its life against a group of abyssal feeders. Cynthia and Clare examined the skeletons carefully, then Clare remarked,

"I think the abyssal may have been Riful of the west, the way these bones are cut so cleanly suggests her method of attack."

Cynthia added, "It looks like she won this encounter, though I don't see any sign of Dauf, her companion."

Teresa commented, "Abyssal feeders, that's a new one. I hadn't heard of them before, care to enlighten me?"

Cynthia, seeing that Clare was hanging back a bit, answered, "Helen and Deneve encountered them several weeks ago, in the south while traveling there with Dietrich." "Dietrich?" "A friend who's still in the organization."

"Ah!"

"It seems that the organization created these creatures to target a specific being, their first target was Isley of the north. After they consumed him, they were given a different scent to follow to destruction. Riful of the west."

"Consumed, by that, you mean he was eaten?" asked an alarmed looking Teresa, "Yes, he was eaten alive from what Helen and Deneve told us."

Teresa visibly shuddered to everyone's surprise, then she said,

"What an awful way to go, Isley deserved better than that! Better to be defeated in honorable battle than consumed like so much animal feed."

Teresa lapsed into silence and stared off into space for a moment or so, then she drew her great sword and held it up in a salute, then she said,

"Rest in peace, Isley of the north, O' silver king. I regret that we never crossed swords." As she rehung her sword, she spat and declared, "That's yet another reason to destroy the organization."

Teresa asked,

"Did Helen and Deneve witness his destruction? Or were they simply told about it?"

Cynthia replied,

"They encountered him in a town to the south of here, it was the only town in the region that wasn't destroyed and there they sensed him, even though he had hidden his youki. He attacked them and they barely escaped with their lives, they met with Dietrich who had followed them and they encountered a group of abyssal feeders. Dietrich showed them how to hide from the feeders and they watched as the feeders entered the town and attacked Isley. An hour later, the town was gone and Isley was dead."

"If we run into these 'feeders' you speak of, how do we fight them?" Asked Sheila.

"We don't!" replied Cynthia, "We stay still and keep quiet until they pass us by. Of course, if everything does go wrong? Aim for their heads, they have extraordinary regenerative powers and can survive almost any injury except beheading."

Teresa looked thoughtful, then she commented,

"These must be something new, I had the job of cleaning up Dae's messes and I don't recall anything like what you've described."

Sheila remarked,

"He did have a secret project or two he was playing with, look at the one that revived you. Who else is in one of his revivification tanks?"

Clare interrupted their discussion by saying,

"I'm sensing something very familiar not too far from here. We should check it out!"

Teresa stood stock still for a few moments as if listening for something, then she said,

"Clare's right! I'm getting it too now, it is very weak, but it is there. Let's go, but carefully, remember our mission!"

The four of them set out, climbing further into the forest's gloom.

Cynthia said quietly, "I sense it has been badly injured and is very upset emotionally." a moment later she added, "She is grieving!"

A faint trail led around an outcropping of rock and upon rounding this, they saw the crumbling ruins of an ancient castle. Scattered about were the fresh signs of a struggle, bits of at least seven abyssal feeders lay amidst the fallen blocks of stone. A small girl with long, chestnut brown hair sat on a stone at the shattered entrance of the castle. As they approached cautiously with swords drawn, she struggled to rise to her feet or rather, foot. She was missing an arm and a leg, on her legless side, a thick strand of her hair was extended downward and she braced herself with it. Her body was naked to the elements as she stood in defiance at her last stand.

"At least, I won't get eaten like Isley was." She spoke bitterly then she smiled ruefully, "I see a couple of familiar faces." She looked closely at Clare, "You've outwitted me a couple of times now, I guess the third time will be the charm!"

Then she looked closely at Teresa and her eyes widened, "Weren't you supposed to be dead or something?" she asked in surprise.

Teresa smiled at her and replied, "It's a long story, I'm sure you'll find it boring Riful of the west."

Riful grimaced and cried defiantly, "I'm not Riful of anything anymore! If you're here to finish me? Then do it! Get it over with! I don't have time for games, kill me before those... Those THINGS come back!"

Clare asked Cynthia, "Think you can help her? She might be out of your league, but if you can help?"

Cynthia smiled at her and replied, "I think so, but if those things come back? I'll be too busy to help fight."

Cynthia clipped her sword into its holder and smiled at Riful as she approached her.

Riful looked confused and asked,

"Wh..What... What is going on?"

Cynthia reached her side and said gently,

"Times have changed, the situation has changed, we came looking for you, Riful of the west."

Cynthia laid gentle hands on Riful's body and closed her eyes in concentration. Riful closed her eyes as well, a slight smile on her pretty face.

Sheila said quietly,

"Guys? We've got company!"

Looking in the direction she was pointing, the shambling figures of twelve feeders could be seen. They were ghastly to behold with their eyes and mouths stitched shut, while tattered bits of rag covered their nakedness.

As they drew nearer, the horrible sniffing, snuffling sounds they made could be heard by all of the warriors. Coming even closer, the nearest ones began drooling in anticipation of their feast to come, their mindless focus was on eating Riful's flesh.

Riful moaned involuntarily and said weakly, "Dear God, let it be quick!"

Teresa commented, "Sheila? I do believe they are even bigger than you! Shall we take them down a peg or two?"

Clare declared, "We have to kill them all, if any escape, they'll take the memory of this fight back to the organization to be transferred to the next group."

Teresa blurted out, "Are you shitting me? What the hell are these things?"

Clare quickly put her finger to her lips in a shushing motion then whispered,

"I'll slip behind them and we'll attack from all sides, remember, aim for their heads, it's the only way to kill them."

The feeders had paused at Teresa's outburst and stood snuffling anxiously, Clare gingerly made her way through them until she could take up her position.

As if on cue, Riful began moaning loudly enough to draw the feeders to her. They resumed their eerie shambling, their jaws now working and tearing loose the stitches to free their mouths to open, revealing jagged teeth. Their clawlike hands reaching to rend and tear flesh, their mouths opening to feed, at last!

Clare stepped forward and there was a blurring motion by her right side, the nearest feeder simply flew apart, chopped into hundreds of bloody fragments.

The feeders hesitated and their own weapons emerged from their tormented bodies, then Teresa became a living engine of destruction, with each step, a feeder died. They quickly backed away from Teresa and Clare's deadly blades only to find Sheila blocking their escape route, they attempted to rush her only to find she could fight too. Sheila carved their flesh without mercy, with each slash a limb flew off, with each thrust organs were destroyed, until the final stroke removed the head.

One by one the feeders were destroyed, the final few desperately fought to escape, to get away, to share their memory with the next group. Only, every way they turned, they found the path blocked by a bloody sword wielded by a determined warrior. They tried leaping into the air only to find that a warrior had leapt higher.

After the last one had fallen and the trio were able to relax their guards, Teresa glanced over at Clare, Clare had some minor wounds that would heal quickly. Teresa had a few nicks and cuts herself while Sheila had a bloody stump where her left arm had been, it had been bitten off by a feeder during the battle.

Clare frowned and asked, "What type are you?" at Sheila's puzzled expression, Clare said, "There are two types of warriors, defensive types and offensive types, which one are you?" Sheila stammered, "I... I think I'm a defensive type?"


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own Claymore.

Chapter 14

Behind them a girlish voice chuckled and said, "How can you not know what type of warrior you are, didn't they teach you anything?"

Turning around they saw a fully healed and now partially clothed, Riful of the west standing there with an amused look on her girlish face.

Before anyone could respond, she held up a finger and said firmly, "Before we go any further with this, first things first!"

Riful bowed deeply and upon straightening up again, she smiled in a way that was very charming and made it hard to believe that such a cute and adorable young girl, could possibly be a creature of the abyss.

Riful said happily, "Thank you so much! You not only saved my life, you healed me, though I think your healer needs to take a nap!"

For emphasis, she gestured towards Cynthia who lay curled up in slumber. Folding her slim arms across her small bosom, Riful asked,

"So what now? You didn't come here to rescue me out of a sense of altruism, what's my end of this bargain?"

Clare said matter of factly, "We want you to join us."

Riful, who was a past master of treachery and subtlety, gaped and burst out laughing. Quickly recovering her composure she raised one perfect eyebrow and said,

"Wait... You were serious, weren't you?"

Clare laconically replied, "I am always serious, we wouldn't have come this far to play a joke on you."

Riful grinned and said, "Wow! The organization must've fallen on hard times if they're asking me to rejoin them. I guess they didn't get my letter of resignation!"

Teresa said bluntly,

"Why would you think we were from the organization? If we had been from them, we would've stood idly by while those feeder things feasted on your little ass."

Riful frowned and remarked testily, "You always were such a rude one!"

Teresa turned and asked Sheila, "How's your arm coming along?"

Sheila was focused so intently on her injured arm that she was startled by Teresa's query,

"Huh? Oh, it's getting there, I got it to stop bleeding now."

Cynthia at this point sat up and stretched a bit, then got up and went to help Sheila heal her injuries. Satisfied that the regeneration of Sheila's arm was going well, Teresa returned her attention to their business at hand.

Riful grinned and remarked, "So, if you're not with the organization, then whom, may I ask, are you with?"

Clare spoke up, "We are primarily the survivors of the battle for Pieta, though we now have members who weren't warriors at the time, and obviously, a warrior who wasn't alive at the time."

Riful cupped her chin in her right hand and stretched a finger alongside her pretty jaw; tilting her head slightly only increased her innate cuteness,

"And how did that happen? I thought I knew all of the organization's newest schemes, but reviving the dead? That's a new one!" said Riful of the west.

Teresa shrugged and replied, "I can't answer that Riful, you'll have to ask Lord Dae. Problem is, he's in hell these days and is probably a little busy."

Riful was suddenly very interested, she sat down on her block of stone, crossed her slender legs and said cheerfully,

"Please tell me more! How did he die? Was it one of his experiments gone wrong? Please tell me it wasn't something mundane like old age or sickness!"

Sheila said quietly, "I killed him." Riful hopped down off her stone and went over and stood facing Sheila who towered nearly two feet over her, Riful looked up at her at first, then Sheila knelt down so that their eyes were even.

Riful smiled at her and said, "Congratulations! You did the one thing I have always wanted to do, how did you do it?" "I beheaded him." replied Sheila. Riful smiled and said, "Not very original, but it is efficient!"

Teresa chuckled and said,

"Sheila's not one for bragging, he had ordered her to help him deflower some young girls. She lost it and went after him, I heard her yelling and came running while knocking out anybody who tried to intervene. I arrived just in time to see her crushing his manhood with her hand while he screamed like the little bitch he always was."

Teresa briefly mimed a man thrashing helplessly,

"Then she dropped him and clipped off his head. I grabbed her and we beat it out of there, we've been on the move ever since!"

Riful laughed and said,

"I would have paid money to see that!"

She grinned at Sheila and said, "I like you! You did what every girl who's ever been in his clutches had so wanted to do. You didn't just kill him, you made him suffer first!"

Riful suddenly hugged Sheila and said,

"Thank you! You've rid the world of a real monster."

Clare asked quietly, "Where is Dauf?"

Riful's pretty face fell and she said quietly,

"Dauf is dead, he fell trying to protect me from those things over there. We were already in bad shape from our encounter with Priscilla."

"What!? You ran into Priscilla?" cried Clare suddenly, "Where did you run into her?"

A bit startled at Clare's reaction Riful replied,

"In the south, she was traveling with some big man who carried a claymore, but not one like ours."

"Another type of claymore?" asked Teresa,

"Yes, it was a claymore in size, but he was not a warrior from the organization, he had no youki aura." Replied Riful.

"What happened?" asked Clare, Riful shrugged and replied,

"We got into a fight, what can I say? Before I knew it, Dauf was badly hurt and I was fighting for my life. Priscilla tore us apart like we were nothing."

She visibly shuddered and commented,

"Now I know what my captives felt. I had never seen such power before and it was all I could do to escape."

She fell silent for a few moments, then said,

"I want to say we escaped, but honestly? I think she stopped her pursuit. We were limping along when the eaters attacked us, we fought them off the first couple of times, but they kept coming back before we could fully regenerate and so, they wore us down."

Riful looked around the area, "I finally realized they were following my scent after Dauf was killed, I smeared myself with their blood and slipped away to hide out here. That was over two months ago, they found me yesterday and it started up all over again."

She grinned and said, "When you guys showed up, I figured my time was up. You can't imagine how surprised I was when you intervened!"

Riful looked at the warriors and asked, "What's next on the agenda?"

She glanced at Clare and said, "I recall that you had quite a grudge against Priscilla, are you still planning to hunt her down? You do realize that she is even more powerful than I am, and that attacking her would be suicide, don't you?"

Clare smiled slightly, a rarity for her and replied, "My reason for seeking Priscilla ended when Teresa came back to me, We can go back to Rabona and take you with us, I suppose. We hadn't figured on meeting you, let alone rescuing you from bad guys. Yet here we are."

Riful shrugged and said, "That makes two of us, I should be dead now, eaten by those horrible things!" Teresa chuckled and remarked, "I find that interesting coming from a creature of the abyss."

Riful looked hurt and she retorted shrilly, "I'm still a girl at heart y'know! I did what I had to do in order to survive, Dauf for all of his shortcomings was utterly loyal and devoted to me. In return, I loved Dauf in my own way and seeing him get eaten like he was, was awful, even to me."

Sheila spoke up, "Do we continue looking around for something to report or do we head back with our guest?"

Teresa looked at Clare and said, "Miria may have put me in charge of this mission, but you're the one with the current knowledge, what do you suggest?"

Clare replied, "First, we find out if we can turn our backs on Riful here, What's to prevent her from gobbling us up the first chance she gets?"

Teresa suddenly moved at blinding speed and the snapping sound of a sword blade whipping through the air, then stopping just as suddenly, with its keen edge lightly pressing against the small abyssal's neck, assailed their ears. Riful's brown eyes opened wide as she realized what had just happened.

Teresa smiled and said grimly,

"At the first sign of trouble from her? She'll get the chop. Are you listening, Riful of the west? I know you remember me, we fought to a standstill several years ago."

Riful smiled thinly and replied,

"How could I forget that annoying faint smile of yours Teresa? I tried so hard to wipe it off your face. You didn't have to beat up Dauf like you did, we weren't bothering you!"

Teresa smirked and retorted,

"Not me perhaps, but any human or lesser warrior who strayed into your clutches usually didn't survive the encounter."

Riful gave the tiniest of shrugs and replied,

"I have a right to survive, I can't help it if human flesh was my main source of nourishment. I didn't ask to be this way, I just am. The organization is as responsible for me as it is for you, destroy the organization and we'll eventually die off, won't we?"

Teresa put away her sword and said grimly,

"That was the answer I wanted to hear from you, Riful of the west. Can we count on your help and no tricks?"

Riful smiled and said simply,

"Yes, I'll join your group. If only to see the look on Rimuto's face when we come a'calling!"

Cynthia was standing, lost in thought during this exchange and when everything seemed to calm down, she asked,

"Riful? Can you eat food other than human flesh? I'm trying to figure out how we could feed you."

Riful smiled and replied,

"I can eat most human foods, though I do prefer my steaks raw however."

Teresa scoffed and said,

"So why do you eat human flesh then?"

Riful smiled and answered simply,

"Because even raw steak tastes like shit to me!"

She looked at each of the four warriors in turn then said, "What!? I told the truth!"


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own Claymore

Chapter 15

Teresa looked at Riful's near nakedness and commented, "We need to find you some clothes, we can't have you half naked like this when we enter Rabona."

"Rabona? Is that where we're going? I thought we weren't allowed in there!" exclaimed Riful.

"We weren't," said Clare, "They had a change of heart after we saved Rabona from Bloody Agatha. Now we're welcome, unofficially."

"Unofficially?"

"Yes, unofficially, we don't attract attention to ourselves and we're welcome, we make too much noise and we're asked to leave."

Riful grinned and said cheerfully, "That's fair enough!"

Sheila doffed her cloak and draped it over Riful's slim shoulders, the cloak reached the ground.

Riful laughed and said gaily, "I feel like I'm wearing one of my dad's old cloaks!"

She snugged it around herself as best she could and grinned at everybody,

"Well, I'm ready to go!"

Cynthia asked her,

"Don't you have anything to bring? Nothing inside this old castle?"

Riful looked the ruins over and said quietly, "No, not a thing. This was only a hiding place. My home was further south and west west of here, but it got destroyed when a couple of nosy warriors," She glanced at Clare meaningfully, "stuck their noses into my business and Dauf broke the place up trying to smash a couple of bugs."

Clare replied coldly, "You were trapping warriors and trying to force them to awaken by torturing them. Dauf smashed the weak ones who didn't measure up!" the two glared at each other until Teresa cried,

"Knock it off you two! Don't make me knock your heads together."

When the two broke off their hate fest, Riful said ruefully, "If it makes you feel any better, I regret what I did. I know now that Priscilla would have defeated me and whatever army I had managed to assemble. I lost everyone and everything I held dear and now I have nothing left but a bit of rag to cover my privates!"

Cynthia remarked, "You still have your life, Riful of the West. We will take you with us and we'll introduce you to our captain. She'll know what to do!"

"Captain? Who's this captain?" Asked Riful.

"Captain Miria is the brains of our outfit." replied Teresa, "She has this grand scheme of bringing down the organization and possibly taking out Priscilla too. Now that you're here, that might become more of a reality than a mere dream."

Riful looked at Teresa for a long moment then she asked, "You were a number one weren't you? What number was this 'Captain Miria'?"

"Miria was a number six," replied Clare, "I met her on what was claimed to be a 'voracious eater' hunt, it turned out to be a male awakened being. Apparently he would rid the organization of warriors who were 'problematic' and we barely escaped with our lives. It turned out the four of us were partially awakened and we didn't realize it 'til that mission. We compared notes and swore to keep in touch and keep a low profile, to stay out of trouble."

"Partially awakened? How can you be partially awakened? You either are or you aren't!" Blurted out a mystified looking Riful.

Clare remarked matter of factly, "We're not sure how it works or worked for us, we know that the five of us experienced a near awakening and somehow regained control, no one factor caused it, it just happened."

Riful's face still wore a mystified look and she said, "Huh?"

Teresa laughed and declared, "Now you know how I felt when I saw Helen extend her arm to grab an apple. It really shocked me to see that and we had some 'uncomfortable moments'. It took me a little while to wrap my head around the idea myself!"

Riful just shook her pretty head and muttered, "This is what I get for hiding away for so long, partially awakened warriors, who would've thought it!"

Teresa laid her hand gently on Riful's small shoulder and said, "We've both been out of touch and have some catching up to do."

Riful frowned and declared, "You have an excuse, you were dead. I've been alive all this time, what else is the organization going to surprise us with?"

Teresa grinned at Riful and said cheerfully, "We won't find that out by staying here and gabbing about it, let's go!"

Riful grinned and said, "Lead on!"

With that, the four warriors and one small abyssal started back down the rocky slopes of the western mountains. As they passed the scene of the earlier battle, Riful became quite emotional and they stopped while she, assisted by Sheila erected a stone cairn at the site. When they placed the last stone on the pile, Riful extended her hair and used it to gather up many of the bone fragments that littered the rocky slope, these were arrayed about the cairn until Riful at last, stepped back and surveyed her handiwork. For a long moment they stood silently while Riful wept freely, her long buried emotions released at last.

She blew her nose and smiled when Sheila handed her a cloth to wipe her nose with, handing it back afterwards she smiled through her tears and said,

"Look at me, crying like a baby. You'd think I would be over crying about things, after all I'm over a hundred years old!"

Sheila momentarily gaped and blurted out, "No way! You're that old? You look like a young girl."

Riful smiled at her and said, "Kinda weird ain't it? Dauf was well over a hundred when he died. We don't seem to age or get old, we just live on and on." Riful gazed at the cairn a bit longer and said softly, "Good bye Dauf, you were a good man, the best I ever knew. I love you, Dauf."

Riful turned to face the warriors and said, "There was an abandoned farm not too far from here, if we could, I'd like to see if I can find any clothes there."

Teresa smiled at her and said, "Lead on!"

Riful grinned and stepped off, leading them along like a child playing 'follow the leader' she hopped over fallen trees and danced around huge boulders that had tumbled down from the rocky peaks above. She eventually led them through a cluster of boulders and they stopped at what had been a plowed field. Beyond the edge of the field sat a shabby old house. from the rocky peaks above. They stopped short and Clare remarked, "There's some one there, feel the youki?"

They all could feel it now, Teresa frowned, "Riful? Did you know that someone would be there? I could kill you right here and now, playing a trick like that could cost you your life!"

Riful stepped back holding out her hands, "W, Wait!" she cried, "I didn't know anyone would be in there! I swear on Dauf's grave!"

Something in her eyes made Teresa relent and she relaxed her stance, "Alright, we'll go with that. Now what do we do?"

Sheila remarked, "I think we could handle whoever's in that old house, I mean we have a number one, a number fourteen, a number fourty seven, a partially awakened warrior and an abyssal. What could beat that?"

Teresa frowned at Sheila and retorted, "What did I tell you about cockiness? Only a fool goes charging in without knowing what's inside."

Sheila looked a bit crestfallen and she nodded, "You're right Teresa, I shouldn't have said that."

Teresa smiled at her young friend and said, "No need to apologize or anything, it's just that even Riful here is being cautious and she's an abyssal. That should tell you something!"

Riful who had stood quietly during this said, "I'm sensing a couple of vaguely familiar youkis, there's two awakened beings in that old house." She glanced at Teresa, smiled and said cheerfully, "Shall we pay them a visit? It's only the polite thing to do."

Teresa shrugged, glanced at Clare who hadn't said anything and remarked, "Sure why not? We're not out hunting yomas or awakened beings anymore, let's go say hi!"

They started out cautiously and approached the old farmhouse, drawing nearer, a vegetable garden came into view and nearby was a freshly turned patch of soil ready to be seeded. Beyond the house, fruit trees were in bloom and a roughly made sheep pen held several wooly inmates being tended by a rather pretty blonde haired woman wearing homespun clothing. She turned to face the approaching group, called out a name and smiled at them. Moments later, a lanky, brown haired, lightly bearded man emerged from the house and stood calmly facing them.

Riful moved ahead of the rest and the man bowed to her, straightening up he said, "Greetings Lady Riful, what brings you here to our home?" His eyes glanced over the four warriors and he said cheerfully, "I see you've brought new friends. Should we be concerned?"

Riful grinned at him and replied, "Oh, don't worry about them, they're also hiding from the organization."

The man's eyebrows went up and he exclaimed, "Really? Pray, tell me more, but first."

He turned and called out, "OCTAVIA! We have guests, come and meet them!" Moments later, the slender, blonde haired woman came out of the sheep pen and stood alongside him, her arm around his waist.

Riful smiled at her and said, "Hello Octavia, it's been a long time, how long have you and Chronos been together now?"

Octavia smiled back and replied, "It's been many years now, we got tired of living in the woods and saw this house standing empty, so we claimed squatters rights." Chronos grinned and remarked, "We figured if we kept a low profile, the organization wouldn't bother with us." Riful grinned and said, "I wish I could have done that, but fate had different plans for me. I want you to meet my friends here." She gestured to the warriors, "This is Teresa," "Of the faint smile?" Blurted out Chronos, "Can't be, she's dead!" Riful cleared her throat and continued, "This is Clare," Clare nodded, "This is Cynthia the healer." Cynthia smiled at them, "And this is Sheila, killer of Lord Dae." Sheila smiled shyly.

Riful turned to the warriors and said, "This is Chronos, a former number four and Octavia, a former number two." Teresa stepped forward and extended her hand to clasp hands with the two awakened beings, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Chronos, Octavia." "Likewise, I'm sure, Teresa," said Chronos, "I don't mean to pry, but you are Teresa of the faint smile, are you not?" When she nodded a "yes" Octavia asked, "I thought you were dead, killed by Priscilla when she awakened. How is it you're alive?"

Teresa sighed and replied, "Honestly, I can't explain it myself. I went from battling Priscilla to oblivion and back to the organization all in the blink of an eye to me. To the rest of the world, some fifteen years had passed while I lay in a tank of preserving fluids or something."she paused and then said, "I was told they had used awakened being flesh or something on me." Chronos frowned and commented, "We had better make sure we stay out of the organization's hands then. I for one, don't feel like being used to revive a dead warrior."

Riful chuckled and said, "Didn't you hear me? Lord Dae is dead, Sheila here killed him. I don't think they'll be able to make any more monsters!" Octavia smiled at Sheila and said, "That is, good news! I'll be sure to spread the word of his demise. Though I doubt he will be mourned." Chronos asked, "I've got to know, how did that old pervert die?" Sheila replied quietly, "I killed him in a fit of rage after he had ordered me to help him deflower some young girls. I just saw red and snapped, everything kind of blurred for a minute and he was dead, beheaded by my hand. Teresa grabbed me and we blew out of there."

"That means the organization can't make any more monsters, doesn't it?" Asked Octavia. "We hope so." replied Teresa, "Lord Dae had me 'cleaning up after him' for awhile after I was revived and got my strength back. Some of them were pretty scary and I had no qualms about killing the mindless brutes." Riful involuntarily shuddered and she remarked, "If you say they were scary Teresa, they must've been awful indeed. I still have nightmares about those abyssal feeders, I'll wake up from a sound sleep and can still feel their teeth ripping at my body." Riful wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered.

Chronos frowned and said softly, "Is that what happened to poor Dauf? Eaten by those awful things?" Riful nodded and a tear welled up in the corner of her right eye and trickled down her soft cheek. Sheila instinctively reached over and draped her arm around Riful's slim shoulders and held her closely. A few moments later, Riful wiped away the tears and smiled at everybody, "Sorry, I still get a little maudlin sometimes, it'll pass."

After a few moments, Chronos grinned at them and said, "On a lighter note, would you like some tea or something?" "Tea would be wonderful." said Riful happily, "What would be even better is if you had any extra clothing, this cloak was lent to me." Octavia smiled and said, "We found an old trunk with some girl's clothes in it, you're welcome to whatever you'd like!"


	16. Chapter 16

I do not own Claymore

Chapter 16

Teresa and Clare glanced at each other for a moment until Clare shrugged and said, "I don't see any problems with it, a roof over our heads would be nice." Teresa grinned at the couple and replied, "We'll take you up on your invitation!" Riful grinned and clapped her dainty hands together. Chronos got up and said to her, "Come with me, my lady, I'll show you the trunk." and they left the room. Octavia leaned closer to Teresa and asked quietly, "What exactly are you guys doing? Seeing four fugitive warriors, and Riful of the West being all chummy is a bit unusual. Chronos might be the polite one and not ask, but I am curious and I'm asking!"

Clare cleared her throat and replied, "We are part of the survivors of the war in Pieta almost nine years ago now. Teresa and Sheila joined us very recently. Our long term goal is to overthrow the organization, our team was sent out to do a survey of the west. Meeting Riful was not in our plans and it was really blind luck that we found her when we did. The abyssal feeders had found her again and were closing in for the finish when we happened along."

Octavia smiled and remarked, "That explains her gratitude, you saved her life. Be careful that she doesn't forget her life debt to you." She glanced at the doorway and said in a low voice, "We've kept our distance from her for good reason, we knew about her recruiting efforts and shied away from her and that great brute, Dauf. She didn't just kidnap warriors, she also kidnapped awakened beings too." Sipping at her tea, Octavia smiled and said happily, "I have not had a chance to talk with any one other than other awakened beings and playing the hostess is kind of new to me."

Cynthia smiled at her and said cheerfully, "This is my first time talking to an awakened being and not drawing a blade. Frankly, I like this alternative, it's so much more pleasant!" Octavia smiled and nodded in agreement then said, "I would like to keep it this way too. We raise the sheep for their wool and their meat, the garden is his idea for green food instead of just meat. So far, it's working nicely, we get our food and we can resist the cravings for human organs. Nobody fully human knows we're awakened beings and we'd like to keep it that way."

Riful's voice could be heard chatting happily and she reappeared wearing a rather tomboyish outfit consisting of snug fitting brown trousers, a long sleeved tan shirt and a hip length brown jacket. A pair of laced up boots covered her feet and over all this, was the long cloak Sheila had lent her. Riful grinned and said happily, "Now, I won't stand out so much when we get to Rabona!" Both Chronos and Octavia gaped and she blurted out, "You're taking her to Rabona? The Holy City? How is that gonna work?" Clare remarked, "We have an arrangement with the temple and the city guards and we live atop the temple itself."

Chronos sat down heavily and said, "Woof! That's a piece of news, how did you pull that one off?" Cynthia smiled and said pleasantly, "We saved Rabona from Bloody Agatha when she attacked the city. Clare here had saved them before from a large yoma that was hiding in the temple and so, we negotiated a place to stay!" "Did you kill Bloody Agatha?" Asked Octavia, "No, we didn't kill her, we defeated her and drove her out of the city." Replied Clare. Octavia smiled and said, "That's good news, it used to be an awakened being would be hunted to extinction, you're learning to adapt just as we are learning how to blend in!"

Teresa commented, "That and times are changing, the organization is losing its grip on this land. Before, when a warrior went rogue or tried to hide from them, they would send out a team or in my case, a special warrior one without a ranking number, this warrior's sole purpose was to enforce the rule about desertion. I think they had revived me to carry out that duty," She grinned, "but they forgot about my rebellious streak!"

Riful said quietly, "They had Rafaela doing that for a long time until she finally hunted down her sister, Luciela. Apparently Luciela got into a big fight with Isley when he came south after the war in the north. She lost badly and while she was fleeing the scene, Rafaela caught up with her and killed her. At least that's what I think she did."

"You think she did? Asked Clare, "What do you mean?" Riful shrugged and replied, " I found their corpse, or I think it's them, it's hard to say really, it looks pretty weird." "Weird?" "Yeah, it's like they sort of melted together!" "Melted together?" Asked Clare, "That's what it looked like! Melted together."

Teresa leaned closer and asked, "What did you do with it and where is it?"

Riful looked away for a moment and then smiled and said, "This tea sure is good, where did you get it?"

"Riful!" Snapped Teresa, "Answer my question, where is it and what did you do with it?"

Riful looked uncomfortable and squirmed in her seat a bit, then she answered reluctantly, "It, is in the ruins of my last home, I had Dauf bring it there after I had found it. I was trying to figure out what it was and how I could use it. I was trying to find a warrior who was really good at reading youki." She took a sip of her tea and muttered, "We couldn't find any cooperative warriors and while out looking for a possible candidate for a youki reader, we ran into Priscilla and that big man she was with and everything just went to hell after that."

Clare frowned and leaned closer to Riful, "Could you describe this 'big man' you keep mentioning?" Riful grinned at her and said teasingly, "Why do you want to know, could he be someone you knew at one time?"

Clare scoffed and said, "I'm just curious that's all. I'm curious to know what kind of a man could be traveling with Priscilla and not know who or what she is?"

Riful shrugged and replied, "I can't answer that one, he didn't seem particularly surprised by Priscilla's actions, it was kind of like he'd seen it before. He just kind of waited 'til the fight was over and they walked away together like it was nothing."

"Nothing?" "That's what I said, nothing." Clare frowned again then said, "I'd still like to get an idea of what he looked like, if you don't mind." Riful grinned and said, "What I do remember was that he was tall and broad shouldered with light brown hair and brown eyes. He carried a claymore and wore something like what you're wearing, y'know lightly armored to protect critical areas without being cumbersome." She looked away for a few moments and scratched her head then she said, "Oh yeah, he had a fairly prominent scar alongside his head, just behind his left eye. It ran straight up and down and was a bit jagged...?" Clare had gone even paler than her usual pallor and had a far away look in her eyes. "Clare? Are you okay?" asked Teresa, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Clare put her right hand to her head and covered her eyes briefly then she said in a far away voice, "He's still alive... He's still alive..." She looked at Riful and asked, "Did you hear his name by any chance?" Riful looked at Clare's expression and replied gently, "I was fighting for my life and Dauf's, I'm sorry, I didn't catch any names. Was he someone you knew?" Clare leaned back with a mysterious look on her face and she replied, "He was someone I traveled with for a time, I told the organization he was my cook to justify having him with me. We got separated when Ophelia realized I was partially awakened after I was sent to join her on an awakened being hunt, she went after me after she had killed the awakened. Things got pretty crazy and afterwards, I couldn't find him. I've searched for him since then."

Octavia grimaced and said, "I'd heard of the 'Blood soaked warrior' she was definitely a twisted sister there, she specialized in hunting awakened beings and was very obsessive about it." Chronos remarked, " To avoid her, 'Tavia and I went into a pretty remote part of this land and stayed hidden in a village of humans, humans who had never heard of yomas or the organization." Riful commented, "I'd heard of her myself but never got to meet her, the organization pretty much left me alone. I guess they were hoping I'd die off or something." "Where was this village you spoke of?" Asked Teresa, "I thought I knew most of them from my travels." "It was at the westernmost end of this land, a little hole in the wall town called Strah, near the Ticelli hills." Replied Chronos.

Teresa smiled at Clare until Clare said testily, "What?" "Oh, nothing." replied Teresa, "I just find that our lives are almost like a bit of history repeating itself." Clare frowned and commented, "I have considered that myself, I followed you despite your telling me not to, Raki followed me despite my telling him nearly the same thing. The difference is, he saved me from awakening while I couldn't save your life." Teresa grinned at her and replied, "In a way you did. By your wanting my flesh placed into your body. The organization retrieved my body and placed it in nutrients, the flesh they took from me to plant in you actually grew back. Lord Dae got the idea to attempt reviving me because of that. So I think you did save me without realizing it at the time."

Finally, after several hours of talking, yawns began creeping into the mix and soon everyone was stifling one yawn after another. Octavia finally declared, "I think we all need to call it a night! I'm yawning so much it's embarrassing, I'll see you folks in the morning. Just make yourselves at home where ever you can find a place to lie down, I have some blankets if anyone wants one." She stepped over to a small closet and handed out homespun woolen blankets to everyone. A few minutes later, the lamp was blown out and the house was littered with the recumbent group composing themselves for slumber. To Sheila's surprise, Riful bedded down next to her and she said, "I hope you don't mind and I'm not funny or anything, but I was really used to sleeping all curled up with Dauf and you're about the closest to him in size here." Sheila just patted the floor next to her and said, " Go ahead, I don't mind a bit."

Sheila woke the next morning to find herself entangled in both Riful's limbs and in her hair, which seemed to have a mind of its own and it had wrapped itself around Sheila's long form while she had slept. Looking around, she saw Teresa sitting at the kitchen table with Octavia and the two were smiling at her as if they were sharing a private joke, most likely at her expense. Teresa put her finger to her lips, then pointed at Sheila. Sheila looked down at Riful and saw her snuggled against her side with an expression of utter peace on her adorable little face. Riful's eyes fluttered open and she saw Sheila smiling at her benignly, Riful sat up and withdrew her hair from around Sheila's body, she stretched and smacked her perfect lips while scratching idly. Riful said happily, "I haven't slept that soundly in a long time, that was great!"

Rising from the floor, Sheila gathered and folded the blankets they'd used, she glanced around and asked, "Where is everybody?" Teresa grinned and said cheerfully, "They've been up, you two sleepyheads were sleeping like logs, so we just left you be." Octavia smiled at them and said, "We have some breakfast for you, if you'd like some before you leave?" Sheila grinned at their hostess and said, "Breakfast would be great after a sleep like that." The two sat down at the table and tucked into the hot cereal and small steaks that Octavia served them. Hot tea washed it down afterwards, Sheila sighed as she leaned back and said, "I promised I'd help Chronos get some lumber before I left. Is he around?" Octavia replied, "He's been outside getting some logs ready for you." Sheila grinned at her and gulped down the last of her tea.


End file.
